The Untold Hunger Games
by nekovampyregirl
Summary: One moment was all it took to turn Katniss's world around. She was now a tribute in the 99th Hunger Games. With enough strength, she could win. Just one problem. The boy she loved was also a tribute. They would face death at every corner. The only constant they knew was that only one could survive. Will love conquer all or is staying alive more important than staying in love?
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome all readers, both new and old, to the first chapter of the revised version of my first story the Untold Hunger Games. Let's kick this author note off with a disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of the characters, and a reminder that this is a fan version of the story that follows the book, movie and my own ideas, so it might be similar to both at the start but will gradually change around the end.**

 **I'd like to give a thank you to** _Aurora Marie Williams_ **for beta reading the first version of this story. Do to reasons that I'm not even sure are, she has stopped being the beta reader of this story. I have a new beta reader now whom only has wonderful stories on fictionpress but has wonderfully accepted to beta reader this new version of my story.**

 **Now to those of you have read this before, and to those reading for the first time, please leave comment, question and/or review. I'll even pm you back or address it in the chapter after the one you commented and/or reviewed :3**

 **Without farther ado let's get Chapter One rolling.**

* * *

The grass was cool against my bare feet, tickling my toes as I walked silently through the field. My body was tucked low so that I couldn't be seen, but my eyes were still able to pick out the prey in the far distance. I ran my hand over my bow string with anticipation flowing through me, as I readied to attack the creature. _Good it's taut_ , I thought, raising my left dust covered hand to reach for the arrow in my quiver. Breathing in deeply, I readied to draw the arrow, silence falling between me and the creature.

Just as I let my arrow fly a voice yelled, "You'll never be able to take that back!"

The second the male voice yelled out the words, the creature, a large white tailed deer, leapt away with my arrow narrowly missing its side.

I whirled around to glare up at the slightly taller boy who stood on the hill nearby me. Fury filled me for a moment as I watched all that meat disappear. My family needed that, yet Gale had ruined my chances. "I almost had it, Gale. What do you think you're doing? Sneaking up on me like that. Don't you have better things to do then follow me around?"

Gale smirked at me. "You wouldn't have been able to carry it home. And I wasn't sneaking, you were just too entranced with that dear to notice me. You're losing your touch. Plus you like me following you around, Catnip" He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I felt some of the anger dissipate. I couldn't stay mad at my best friend for long. Plus he was right. I should have been able to hear him coming, or at least sensed that I was being watched. I rolled my eyes at his annoying nickname for me. My real name was Katniss, but I guess seven year old boys can't pronounce that right. Of course little five old me was pretty shy and hadn't had the courage to tell him that he was wrong.

I looked at my still smirking friend, taking in his other features. If I really looked at him, I guess I could believe the comments about how close we resembled each other. He could have passed as my brother, if I had one. His short black hair, olive skin and grey eyes were very similar to mine. Though this was also the norm in the part of District Twelve where we lived, which was unaffectionately called the Seam. It was the poorest area of the already poor District.

Almost every man and woman in the Seam, who was over 19, was a coal miner. My father was one, as was Gale's. The dust from the mines settled on everything in our impoverished area, including the sullen people.

I reached behind me to pick up my colourless, steel toed boots, turning my attention back to Gale. "That would have been enough meat to sell to both butchers and at the Hob! Just so you know," I told him in a loud voice, my scowl still showing on my face. Gale made his way down the sloping hill, and into the field below.

"And like I said just moments before, you couldn't have carried that back by yourself and not got caught," Gale reminded me. I sighed as I began to lace up my boots while I waited for him. This was when I heard two long bell chimes sound in the far distance, where District Twelve lay waiting for us to return.

"Two hours to the Reaping," Gale muttered, standing beside me, his voice sullen and filled with trepidation. Leave it to the threat of the Reaping to sullen anyone's mood. I clenched my fist, hating this day more than any other. I just had to distract myself until it was over. At least until the next Reaping.

I looked up at him seeing the slight worry and fear in his eyes, and who could blame him? District Twelve was one of thirteen districts that made up the large country of Panem, in a land that use to be called America. It was vastly different from the country it was found on, especially after global flooding, earthquakes and other natural disasters all preceded by a terrible war on a global scale. After the Treaty of Peace was signed by all the remaining countries of the world, Panem rose with its thirteen districts and the shining Capitol at the heart.

Of course we didn't have peace in Panem for long. 99 years ago, almost to the day, a rebellion started among the Districts against the overly oppressive Capitol. No one knows how long it lasted for but it ended in the destruction of the original District Thirteen, the supposive instigator of the rebellion, and the signing of the Treaty of Treason.

This is the Treaty that started the darkest tradition of Panem; The Hunger Games. In it 13 boys and 13 girls fight to the death to win glory and money for themselves. However the most important was that the District the victor of the Games was from would receive a supply of food every month for every family in the District until the next Hunger Games began. This was the largest prize a victor received, which was why many people in the impoverished Districts prayed for their tributes to win. Of course that was almost never as most victors came from Districts that were rich or skilled with brutal tools.

Gale's hand touched my shoulder to snap me out of my thoughts. "Let's hunt before the next bell rings. Then we can get something to the Hob today," he suggested, looking into the woods around us. "Plus I owe you for scaring off that deer." I nodded my head and we began our walk up the hill, into the woods full of game and the promise of meat to fill our bellies.

* * *

We hunted for at least three quarters of an hour before heading to our usual spot for lunch. Neither of us were in a hurry to head back and we needed that last little moment of peace before the threat of the Reaping sank in again. While Gale picked juicy blackberries and raspberries from bushes close by, I pulled out some of the cheese my little sister - and only sibling - Prim had made for me with milk from her nanny goat, Lady. When Gale's hand touched my shoulder, again, I assumed he was passing me my share of the berries, but instead I found myself staring at half a loaf of fresh bread from the baker.

I grabbed the loaf, inhaling its aroma as I whispered, "How much did this cost you?" My mouth watered at the sight of the bread. It had been ages since I'd tasted the delicious morsel. I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into the prize. It would have been better had it been warm, but I'd go for burnt pieces at this point in time if it meant I got some.

"Nothing," Gale told me as he sliced off a piece and placed the rest back in his bag. "He gave it to me for free, I think old Garnary's feeling sentimental this morning."

I laughed a little at what he said. Garnary Mellark was a nice old man. He loved buying a few squirrels from me or Gale when we came back from a successful hunt. 'Course he preferred them from me for two reasons; first I shot them in the eye every time, and second I was on very good terms with his youngest son.

A sad smile appeared on Gale's lips after my laugh. "He even wished me luck. I need it."

"How many times is your name in there?" I asked him. Everyone between the ages of 12 and 19 get their name in the pool for tributes each year. Most only have one to eight slips in the pools, depending on their age, but say you're old enough to enter the games and you come for a poor, starving family. You can add your name into the pool each time for the number of people in your family to get a tessera. Tesserae can get you a meager supply of grain and oil for a year for each member of your family. I had been taking three tesserae every year since I was old enough to, and now at sixteen I had not only the five slips that were required but also 15 others for every tesserae I'd taken. Giving me a grand total of 20 slips in the pool.

"42 tesserae this year," Gale told me as he looked down at the bread in his hands. "But with five mouths to feed, everything helps." He grabbed half of my cheese and spread it over his slice of bread.

I looked down at my slice and breathed in deep, lifting it like a glass cup saying in the annoying accent of the Capitol people, "Happy Hunger Games!"

Gale tapped his bread against mine and said in the same accent, "And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

We both laughed, though it was kind of forced. Our minds were still on the upcoming Reaping and the odds of one of us getting picked. I tried to dismiss that thought and just as we started to eat our bread the bell chimed once again. "One hour to go," I mumbled sadly and scarfed down the rest of my bread and berries, getting up quickly. "You coming to the Hob with me today?" I asked as I slung the bag of death fish and game over my shoulder. I was glad we'd been successful today and hoped we didn't get in trouble for being gone so long.

Gale rose to his full height with a smile on his face. "No. Madge wants to walk with me to the square. I think she's afraid of going by herself."

It was understandable. Madge was my age, and the only living child of District Twelve's mayor, Marcus Undersee. She was a shy but sweet girl who I would eat lunch with at school. Gale use to believe she was a stuck up child until the Hunger Games two years ago when Jared Undersee, Madge's older brother, got reaped.

Jared was a kind and honest guy who hated violence. No one in the District thought he would live through the games, and they were right. He didn't even last the first twenty minutes, having been killed by a vicious boy from District One who went on to win the whole thing that year.

The death of her brother had sent Madge in a state of depression that lasted almost four months. During the fourth month of her depression, Gale walked up to us. At first I thought he was going to say something, but instead he sat beside Madge and was silent. I wasn't the kind of person people opened up to, but Gale, he had a way about him that made people just want to talk about whatever was hurting or upsetting them, and Madge was no exception.

Gale hadn't even been sitting beside her from more than a few minutes before the poor girl began to talk about how much she missed Jared. Only a few seconds later Madge had broke down in tears, Gale pulled her into his arms and let her cry against his chest. I missed what happened next with them, since I had left to let Gale keep calming Madge, but the next thing I knew, they started spending more time together. Two months after that day Madge, who had thankfully returned to her sweet, kind self, gleefully told me that Gale had asked her to go steady with him. I don't think Gale actually phrased it like that, but I didn't want to burst her bubble. She looked so happy that day when I congratulated her that it warmed my heart.

"I'll meet you there then," I called over my shoulder as I brought my thoughts back to the present, turning to the path we had made out of twigs and leaves. "Sell some of the strawberries you picked to her father while you're there."

"Yeah, okay," he called back, walking towards the marketplace and the richer side of District Twelve.

* * *

After stashing my bow and quiver away in two hollow trees on the path, I came up to the tall electric fence that surrounded my home District. It was built to keep the wild animals away from the inhabitants of District Twelve and also to probably keep the people inside from escaping. The fence was supposed to be electrified 24 hours a day, and probably was years ago when it was first built. Now however, it was only active during the hours when the more dangerous animals were active; two hours before midnight and one hour past. This had to do with the limited power supply District Twelve had. Honestly, it was a surprise that the fence still worked at all.

It was the quickest, and oddly the safest, way to leave the District without getting caught by the many Peacekeepers that patrolled the streets. Of course they didn't really care as long as you came back before night fall, and brought back something for them. They were just as hungry as everyone else in the District.

I walked over to the hole in the ground that had been dug out by a wolf who had tried to get passed the fence. It had been shot and killed by a Peacekeeper on patrol. The body had been dealt with but the hole it made stayed unrepaired. I didn't bother listening for the hum of electricity the fence sounded with when it was on, but only because I was one of the few people who knew what times of the day were safe. I tossed my pack through the hole and crawled under the fence, swiping the dust off my pant legs afterwards as I stood on the other side.

Once my fruitless tries to get the dust off were complete, I moved my feet to the old brick building that housed District Twelve's blackmarket; the Hob. The Hob was originally a coal warehouse, but as years passed a more efficient system of coal transport was discovered. The warehouse was abandoned, people needed work, and empty spaces get used fast in this District. So gradually the old building was taken over by the Hob.

I stepped into the building and the sounds of people bartering and animals rustling about in their cages rang through my ears while the ever present smells of sweets and cooking food filled my nose. I took in the people milling about and smiled. So long as the Hob stayed in business, we would be okay. I moved further through the building, in a little bit of a hurry today. I waved at some of the people I recognized and they nodded back.

I was quick today in trading the game and other items Gale and I had collected from the woods, but only because I wanted to get home soon and change for the Reaping. I traded most of the meat and greens for salt, some good quality bread, and two blocks of soap. I saved a little bit of the game for my family to have tonight as a little feast for another year of surviving the Reaping.

Home itself wasn't really a house, more like an old wooden shack. It was comprised of a two tiny bedrooms that had enough space for a bed, a small table and a trunk for clothes. A bathroom with a basin for washing took up most of the back wall, and a room that acted as the kitchen, dining room and sitting room with a cracking but working fireplace against the wall for when the cold seasons came to the District took up most of the other room.

I climbed up the three crumbling wooden steps onto our porch that was in desperate need of repairs. The main wooden door and screen door behind it were supposed to keep the bugs from entering the house, but they too were falling apart, barely hanging from their rusted hinges. Inside my mother was gently braiding Prim's long blonde hair into a pair of pigtails, letting them lay over her shoulders once she was done.

I smiled at my sister. "You look so beautiful Prim." My words rang with a touch of sadness in them, since I knew she was only dressed like that so she could wear something nice if her slip was pulled, which was highly unlikely. She only has her name in there once, but my odds of being reaped were far higher than hers would even be.

"I laid something for you on the bed," My mother told me, her eyes had a bit of light in them, but I knew that it was only because she was trying to keep a brave face for us kids.

I acknowledged her with a short nod, my eyes having the same look they always had when talking to her; cold and expressionless. I left the room after setting the meat and supplies on the table and, with just a few steps, entered the bathroom. As I peeled off my clothes from my sweaty skin I thought about the day my mother and I drifted apart. It was the day of the mine collapsed; the day my father, Gale's and eleven other miners perished in the small mining tunnel.

The day it happened my sister and I had been out in the meadow, an area that sat outside the fence, close to the Seam, picking wildflowers for the house. We didn't find out what had happened until we got home to find our mother and grandmother together sitting on the couch, my mother's eyes were filled with tears and my grandmother was rubbing her back, trying to calm her.

I had looked at my grandmother and then to my mother, my small voice cracking when I had asked what was wrong. My grandmother had turned to me, it had been odd to even see her in the house, seeing as she and my grandfather had disinherited my mother the day she married my father.

Her old voice told me in a sad tone, though hinted with relief, "There was a collapse in the mines today… I'm sorry sweetheart but your father died in the tunnel."

My eyes had turned to my grandmother, not believing a word she had said, until I saw the look in my mother's clear blue eyes. They were filled with depression that told me everything my grandmother had told me was true. That was when my eyes filled with tears and I ran up to my mother, grabbing her hands tightly. My grandmother took that moment to pull Prim, who had just entered the house, into our bedroom, to tell her what had happened.

I remembered shaking the hands I held, crying as I tried to get my mother to speak to me, but she remained motionless despite her breathing. It only got worse from that day on. My grandmother had come over every day for the next week until after my family was given the small amount of money that would last us the amount of time it would take my mother to get a job to support us.

However she didn't, even though she had the training to become an apothecary, like her parents. She just sat in her chair, staring into space. My grandmother had given up on her during her last visit, saying that unless she pulled herself together and proved able to keep her family alive, she would take me and Prim away. Not wanting to leave my mother or be raised by my usually absent grandparent, I decided from that day on, at the age of only eleven, to take on the role of head of the family. I shopped at the market for food with the money we had, learned to cook to ensure we were all fed, and did the laundry so Prim and I looked presentable to all who saw us.

I had done my job to the best of my abilities until - "Katniss are you coming out!" Prim called from behind the door as I was snapped out of my thoughts. I looked down at the bowl in my hand, the one we used to rinse water off our bodies, and then at the door.

"Yeah, I'll be just a minute," I called back, my voice cracking slightly but not enough that my sister would notice. I heard her steps creak away and returned to rinsing off my body.

My family was better now, thanks to the tesserae and game I brought home. My grandmother no longer threatened to take my sister and me away, and my mother had even gotten a steady job as apothecary for the Seam, being paid with food or important items patients were able to give away. But things were still rocky between me and my mother, and they probably weren't going to fully mend for a very long time.

I climbed out of the washing basin and, after wrapping myself in a towel, crossed the threshold to my room. Laying on the bed I shared with Prim was a simple blue dress that I knew had been my mother's reaping dress years ago. I walked over and picked it up just as my mother's voice sounded softly from behind me, "I thought since this is your fifth reaping, you would need something new to wear."

I turned and looked at her for the first time in five years with light in my eyes. "Thank you."

The smile that now graced her pale skinned face was genuine as she responded kindly, "Why don't you put it on, and I'll fix your hair?"

My head bobbed up and down once before I pulled the dress over my body. While I smoothed down the folds, my mother slowly began to pin up my messy self done braid. It only took her a few short minutes to turn the braid I'd had over my shoulder this morning into a beautiful simple updo that made me look far more mature and prettier than I even thought I could.

"Thank you." I said again, looking at my mother with a small smile. I turned around to leave the room, only to see Prim standing in the doorway.

"Now you look beautiful too, Katniss." Her eyes were bright and, despite what was to come, filled with hope.

I quickly stepped towards her and pulled her into a warm, comforting embrace, "Let's tuck that tail in little duck." I said as I tucked in a piece of her shirt that stuck out. She had been doing this habit for years with me always helping her by tucking it back in.

With a little quack Prim pulled out of my embrace, with us both laughing full heartedly, until the sound of the last bell rang through our little shack, and the laughter died.

* * *

Prim squeezed my hand tightly as our feet hit the cobblestone of the large space that made up the city square outside our large, grey bricked Justice Building. It was the heart of every District where official business was conducted; like signing up for tesserae, receiving a medal and money when a miner dies in the tunnels, or where you would go to get married.

However today it acted as its primary purpose for one day out of the year; the annual Reaping for the Hunger Games.

We file into five lines so that a Peacekeeper at the desk blocking the main reaping area can take our blood. This is so they can ensure you are the proper age for reaping. They just recently brought this system in when six years ago a twenty year old man from District One, he had snuck into the reaping area and had tried to volunteer for the Games that year. It wasn't until they brought him onto the stage that people started to say that he was too old to be reaped and he was lying to the Peacekeepers who had allowed him access.

Now they had to do blood scan that told Peacekeepers your name and age. Prim froze when she saw the devices. She had seen them being used before, but she didn't like having her blood drawn. It took a few calming touches of my hand to quiet her nerves.

She let go of my hand and walked up to the Peacekeeper who had called her. She gave the man her hand wincing as her finger was pricked. The man scanned the blood he pressed to the paper, which read:

 _Everdeen, Primrose_

 _12 Y/O_

He waved her off and called for me. I waited for him to prick me and scan my blood, catching a peek at what my scan read:

 _Everdeen, Katniss_

 _16 Y/O_

After he waved me off I went to find a place to stand with the girls my age. It took me little time to find them and I took a stop in the middle. This way I wouldn't be noticeable in the footage they were taking of this reaping. I waited quietly until I felt a hand tap my shoulder, I turned to look beside me, seeing Madge's soft blue eyes looking at me.

"Madge," I whispered out with a deep sigh, a familiar face was always helpful during the reaping. "Nice dress." I smiled at her, receiving a smile from Madge. The dress was an off white that came down past her knees. Her blonde hair was tied back with a pink ribbon. I tilted my head when I noticed a gold pin above her breast, one of a bird of sorts. The pin itself could probably keep a family with bread for months.

I was about to ask about it when Mayor Undersee's voice rang through the crowd. "Welcome to the Reaping of the 99th Hunger Games," he began. His voice had no cheer in it, as he, along with everyone else in the District, had a great hatred for the Games. Of course no one could do anything about it, it was the law of our society and if anyone tried to go against it they would be killed on the spot.

Mayor Undersee looks around the crowd of young people, eyes lingering on mine and his daughter's for a moment before they return to looking through the crowd. "Today we have a film for you brought from the Capitol by our lovely escort, Ms. Effie Trinket."

We all turn to look at the seats where the officials and Capitol representatives sit during the Reaping. Sitting in the chair, next to the one the mayor usually occupies, is an extremely pale skinned woman who stands out completely from the fairer skin of District Twelve's officials. This is Effie Trinket, the bubbling and perfectly annoying District Twelve escort of five years now. Her light salmon pink wig of this year rested on her head with an overly large, magenta rose sewn onto it. She smoothed down her magenta suit with her flawlessly manicured hand, as if she was going to stand, but she remained seated, turning her head to the screen by the left of the stage.

A video with President Coriolanus Snow's short narration of Panem's history began. Images flashed on the screen; frightened people and soldiers of an older Panem during the rebellion, happy people who were obviously faking it, a recreation of the signing of the Treaty of Treason, overly fit and beautiful young teens, and the last image was the flag of Panem blowing in the breeze.

"I just love that part," Effie Trinket's voice sounded through the audience. Sometime during the video she had traded places with Mayor Undersee and was now standing at the microphone. "Now comes the time for us to remember your valiant victors of Hunger Games past."

I tried to hide my scoff after hearing Effie Trinket's word to describe the victors of District Twelve. We had two in total and they were anything but valiant. The older one was Victoria Lexington who had won her games through deceit and manipulation. She sat on the right side of the stage with her golden haired, great-granddaughter and caretaker, Jessalynn Dowward sitting beside her in a soft cream dress. Victoria was more estranged than valiant, always dressed in black no matter the weather with a thick veil covering her face. She had even persuaded President Snow to allow her not to mentor the tributes in the games, as was her only job as a victor of the Games.

To her right sat her a man with a drunken look on his unshaven face. His name was Haymitch Abernathy and he had won his games with intelligence and the skills that only the butcher's son would know. Now he was just a drunk who preferred buying spirits at the Hob than doing actual work.

This was the legacy of my District. It wasn't so bad, after all it was better to have intelligent victors as your mentors than ones who relied on just brunt strength and skill.

Effie Trinket wasn't impressed with our victors either, probably because she was always being criticized by Victoria and teased by Haymitch, who decided at that moment to get up and give her a big hug and a sloppy wet kiss on her cheek.

A few adults were chuckling as they watched a Peacekeeper pull Haymitch off of Effie Trinket and returned him to his seat. Madge breathed out a long sigh as she muttered, "Daddy is going to not like that." She looked over at me. "He hates when Haymitch makes a laughing stock out of the District."

I didn't reply but she was right, since this happened every year to the escorts. It also was why our old escort quit five years ago to be replace with Effie Trinket.

As if on cue, Effie Trinket's bubbly voice sounded through the crowd once again, "Now that that excitement is over," she exclaimed, fixing her disheveled wig, "Let's see who your tributes will be for this year. As always ladies first!" She strutted over to the large glass ball that held all the names of the 12 to 19 year old girls in District Twelve, reaching her hand into it. She dug deeply before pulling out a slim piece of paper.

The crowd went silent and all I think, desperately in my mind is, _Not me, not me, not me_ , as the pink haired woman strided back over to the microphone stand and unfolded the slip with her long pink fingernail. She looked down at the name brightly before reading into the microphone with her annoying voice, "Primrose Everdeen!"

I felt my heart stop and the whole crowd went dead around me as they searched for my sister in the crowd of twelve year old girls. My eyes found her and my stopped heart lurched. She was as pale as a ghost, all the blood drained from her pretty pink face.

"Prim," I mumbled under my breath as she walked towards the stage with slow, uneasy steps. Part of me was still in shock. I couldn't believe it. This couldn't be happening. This was my sister's first year. There had to have been a mistake. But my sister kept walking and reality slammed into me. I had to do something. "Prim!" I cried louder, my broken voice easily able to be heard of the silence of the shocked crowd. As the crowd parted for me and all eyes flicked toward me, I ran to her, just before she could climb the steps onto the stage. "I volunteer!" I yelled, pushing my small sister behind me, as a mountain lion would when protecting her cub. "I volunteer as tribute!"

Effie Trinket looked stunned at the turn of events she was witnessing. "Lovely!" Effie Trinket clapped, her beaming smile almost blinding me. Any action in this District would make that woman happy. "Come here dear."

I moved to climb up the stairs but Prim grabbed my shirt tightly, not letting me leave. "No!" she shouted behind me. "Katniss! No! You can't go!" She sound so desperate to keep me from walking onto the stage that it almost broke my heart.

I pushed back my tears and said in a stern, almost cruel voice, "Let go Prim."

The look she gave me really did break my heart; it was one with tears in her eyes. Eventually she let go of my arm, but not by choice. I suddenly see Gale holding her in his strong arms, keeping her from preventing me to leave.

"Up you go, Catnip," The usual strong willed Gale said, his voice breaking as he gave me a little push towards the stage. He turned and carried Prim off towards my mother as I took a deep breath before slowly climbing the steps.

Effie Trinket clasped her hands together, her beaming smile still shining at me. "Bravo, now that's the Hunger Games spirit." I'm sure she's extremely pleased to have a little action going on in the dull District Twelve. "What's your name?"

"Katniss Everdeen," I answered calmly, showing no tears in my eyes, not with every camera facing me.

"Well! I bet my buttons that was your sister... wasn't it?" Effie Trinket's pursed pink lips closed to form a completely new smile. I nodded my head not saying a word as she continued to talk. I swear that woman was in love with the sound of her own voice. I was still in shock. How could this be happening? This had to be a dream. I closed my eyes and then opened them again, blinking several times almost as if I could blink away the scene in front of me. I even went as far as to pinch myself, willing it to be a dream. Yet nothing changed. This was my new reality. I straightened and resigned myself to what was happening. "Come on everybody let's give a big hand to our first female volunteer in the history of District Twelve Reapings and newest tribute." Effie's voice pulled me back to the Reaping and I glanced around at the crowd.

Nobody clapped. Maybe in a District like One, Two or Four, being reaped was like winning the lottery, but here in District Twelve it was an automatic death sentence that no one wanted. Silence filled the crowd until one by one they all began to touch their three middle fingers of their left hand to their mouths and held it up to me. This old funeral gesture meant thanks, admiration and goodbye to loved ones.

I was about to cry but thankfully Haymitch stopped me by yelling in a loud drunken voice. "This girl's got spunk," he said and looked out at the crowd, clapping his hands loudly. "Bravo! bravo!" he yelled before stumbling off the stage. I was thankful for this as every camera turned to him, giving me a few seconds to compose myself and rid the tears from my eyes.

"What an exciting day," Effie Trinket whispered to me before she stood herself upright. "Now time for the boys!" She called out as the attention of the crowd shifted back on her. Hate filled me. How could she be so excited for this? Did she not realize that she was sending children to their deaths? I clenched my fists to keep from lashing out at her. She quickly walked over to the ball containing the boys' names and picked up the first slip her hand touched. She raced back to the podium, quickly reading out the name on the small white paper. "Peeta Mellark."

"No," I whispered to myself as I turned to face him. _The odds are not in my favor today._ That one thought rang through my head while he walked closer and closer to the stage. His blonde hair fell in adorable waves over his perfect blue eyes. I could see the shocked look on his face as he climbed the steps to take his place at Effie Trinket's right side. I didn't listen to anything Effie Trinket had to say next, my attention and focus were all on him.

Why him? I asked myself. Why Peeta? I wanted to cry more even ever but I knew I shouldn't. Peeta looked at me with sadness through the corner of his eye. Effie Trinket beamed her teeth in our direction, instructing Peeta and I to shake hands. I did as I was told taking his hand in mine to hide how bad mine was shaking and looked straight into those blue eyes I adored so much. I wanted to fall into his arms and have him hold me. I wanted him to tell me that this wasn't really happening and that we'd fall asleep and wake up and it all be a dream. But I could do no more than just shake his hand as the anthem of Panem began to play. Right then I prayed to anyone who could hear me that no one would kill Peeta in the arena. Not even me. He had to win. He had a promising future as a baker's son. He would be kind to the people in the district and would give them bread when they needed it even at the risk of becoming poor himself. He was a good soul. I'd see to it that he won or at least lasted longer than me.

The anthem soon ended and Peeta and I were pulled through the doors into the Justice Building. Once inside we were separated and I was brought to a richly furnished room where I was to wait until my family came in to say goodbye to me.

My mother and sister were first.

I embraced them both tightly, holding back my tears as I tried to remain strong for them. Prim was crying against my shirt as I pulled away and I dropped to eye level with her. "Don't cry Prim. You can't let the Capitol see you cry," I told her, as more of a reassurance for myself than for her.

"You have to win Katniss, I want you to come home. Promise me you'll try to come back," Prim said sternly to me, which, with the tears flowing in her eye, made her look more like a child trying to act older than she was.

I smiled at her, my eyes still threatening to flow. "I promise little duck. I'll be back before you notice I'm gone." I hugged her once more, regretting my blatant lie, before turning to my mother and hugging her tightly, whispering into her ear, "You can't shut down like you did when dad died."

"I know I-"

"No, you can't! She needs you, and I'm not sure that promise I made is one I can keep this time," I confessed to her and soon felt a wetness on my shoulder. I rubbed my mother's back as I cried too, "Don't cry… Never let them see you cry." My voice broke as I told her the same words I told Prim.

Suddenly the Peacekeeper came in and pulled my family out of the room. I sat back down on the couch waiting for the rest of the time to go by, knowing that I had no more family who cared enough to say good bye. That was why I was surprised when the door opened and Gale entered the space with Madge following closely behind. I was startled for a bit but soon ran into Gale's open arms and hugged him hard.

"Did you get him in?" I asked Madge calmly. She nodded as Gale let go of me and draped his arm around Madge's shoulder.

"I couldn't let you go without saying goodbye Catnip," he said and looked at me as sternly as I did with Prim only minutes ago outside. "Get a bow. If you show them that you can shoot then they'll put one in the arena. If you can't find one, make one. You're strong, Katniss. Stronger than anyone going into this."

My head nodded without my constant as I was pulled away from Gale's gaze by Madge who hugged me just as tightly as I had Gale.

"Here." Madge gently took her button from her dress and pinned it onto my dress. "I," she hesitated, looking at Gale with a blush, "we want you to wear this… as a District token in the arena." It was a small and looked as if someone had fashioned a small golden bird and then attached a ring around it. The bird was connected to the ring only by its wing tips. I suddenly recognized it. A mockingjay.

"Thank you," I whispered as I brushed my fingers lightly over the small bird. I pulled her into a hug again. "Take care of Gale for me. He needs you."

Madge smiled lightly at me as she nodded. "If not for you, I would have ended my life months before Gale helped me," she whispered, just as the Peacekeepers came in to collect them. "You have my word that I'll take care of him."

I had no time to reply to Madge but was able to call out to Gale, "Take care of my family!" Tears once again threatened to fall from my eyes.

"I will," he yelled back, almost trying to pull away from the Peacekeeper who had his hold on him.

I held back my tears as the next visitor entered my visiting room; my grandmother.

She walked in straight and tall, not showing any sign that she wanted a hug from me. 'Course I wasn't planning on giving her one.

Her eyes looked down into mine and I saw in them, for the first time in my entire life, tears threatening to flow. "You are not allowed to die in there. Do you hear me Katniss?" she asked, walking over and grabbing my shoulders roughly. "You are to survive and return home by any cost. I know you're the only one who keeps your family together." Her voice had begun to break, which was something I had never heard my grandmother do.

I looked at her and wiped the now flowing tears from my eyes, and then lied through my teeth. "I will grandmother. I promised Prim I would come back." I held my head high to show her I was as stubborn as she was. My mother always said that I was just like her in that sense.

A few minutes after my grandmother left, the Peacekeepers came back to escort me to the black car with tinted windows that would take me to the train station. I was on my own the entire ride which gave me time to think about all that had happened. This was not going to be easy for me, the Games would be the hardest thing I would ever face in my entire life. I would be put up against not only tributes, bigger and stronger than me, but also those who had been trained since they were young. Of course I had some advances to them. I knew how to survive in the woods, how to climb and sleep comfortably in trees and how to find food and water. I knew what it felt like to starve and live on just soup or roots. I would show the Capitol that the volunteer from District Twelve was ready to fight for her life.

Soon the car pulled up to the station and I could see the many reporters swarming around with their cameras directed at my face. I looked up at the platform to find Peeta standing there, his eyes on me with tears streaming down his face. It took all the strength I had left for me not to hug him right in front of the cameras. Something must have happened with his family while I was with mine. I'm sure it was his mother, she was the cruelest woman I had ever met and we'd never gotten along with each other.

Before getting on the train, Peeta and I stood on the platform for what seemed like forever while the Capitol reporters took many pictures and videos of us. Thankfully Effie Trinket put a stop to them, barking at them for bothering her precious tributes. Haymitch walked onto the train without a word as Effie Trinket shooed away the reporters and turned to us with her blinding smile.

"On you go dears." She waved her hands in a shooing motion to us, hurrying both Peeta and myself to climb in. When we were finally aboard the train, Effie Trinket headed to the car to the right of us. I was just about to follow before I felt Peeta grab me and pull me into his arms, strengthened with his daily ounce of carrying flour into the bakery for his mother.

"How are we going to get through this?" I asked in a broken and trembling voice, a side of me I only revealed to Peeta. He stroked my hair, soothing me before he answered.

"I don't know... but we'll do it together." he promised as he brushed a few strands of loose hair off my head. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead before leaning back and holding my gaze. I felt my heart flutter nervously in my chest and hated myself for the little excitement that filled me as I realized what he was going to do next. His head lowered and I licked my lips in anticipation. I needed this. I needed his attention right now to ground me. My thoughts were swirling around what the future held, but his touches and kiss pushed them all away as his lips pressed against mine. I'm not sure how long we stood there, with Peeta holding me after our kiss, but it felt like only seconds until Effie Trinket called us into the adjacent car.

I had a secret that I had to hold close to my heart. No one could find out about it or I was done for. I was in love with Peeta. And that was the most dangerous thing of all. There was no room for love in the games. It was a fight to the death and only one person would make it out alive. I knew that I should harden my heart against Peeta, turn him away, but I couldn't. Even after making the promise to my family that I'd try to come home, I couldn't kill Peeta if it came down to the two of us. I'd have to find some other way. Though how that would become possible, I wasn't sure.


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome the Second Chapter of the Untold Hunger Games. As usual here's the disclaimer; I don't own the Hunger Games or any of it's characters. Now that is done, please leave a comment, question and/or review. I'll even pm you back or address it in the chapter after the one you commented and/or reviewed :3**

 **I get to answer my first question asked a while ago... A guest asks:** is it supposed to be the 99th hunger games?

 **Answer:** Yes... I changed it to the 99th Hunger Games because of an important twist that is going to be accruing in my next story and that twist works a lot better if it's the 100 anniversary of the Games and not as the 75th... this won't change much for the story... It will have the same characters and events only it's just later on in time. Also who doesn't want to do a story with Katniss in the 99th and 100th Games? I hope that answers your question. :3

 **Without farther ado let's move to Chapter Two.**

* * *

I'm stunned as we enter the lavious dining room with it's beautiful, polished paneled walls and velvet, dark sapphire blue carpeted floor. The table was a light brown mahogany with a vase of snow white roses sitting in the centre. I figured the roses were to honor President Snow and shot them a distasteful look. A crystal chandelier made from a dozen lamp-like lights hung above the table as cords of diamonds dangled from the bottom. As I walked past the table I ran my hand over the soft navy blue fabric that covered the dining chair. I didn't want to stop touching it. I'd never felt anything so soft. But reluctantly I pulled away and waited to see what Effie Trinket wanted us to do next.

Effie Trinket guided us into the separated sitting room with four plush, navy blue, cup-like armchairs pushed to the right side. This allowed space for a spread of sweets, cakes and pastries to sit comfortably on a long table to the left of the car. Aside from the long table, there were two rounded side tables of polished steel sitting aside the chairs, each with a tray of cakes and pastries atop them. Across from the chairs was a small bar with spirits of different varieties and a bucket for ice in between each selection of spirits.

The whole room was beautifully lite and I was in awe the entire time Effie Trinket walked us through, drowning out her voice as we walked slowly through the car. That is until she stopped us and proclaimed in her bubbly voice, "Your rooms are just past this door. Just enter the one with your name on it. I'll see you back here for lunch once you've freshened up."

I followed Peeta down the hallway that lay beyond the door. We walked for a short while before we reached two silver doors that each had an electronic plate to the side of them with _Peeta Mellark_ and _Katniss Everdeen_ written on each one. I wasn't too fond of separating myself from him so soon after entering the train but with Effie Trinket's eyes boring into our backs, I knew that we had to act like there was nothing more between us. I didn't trust this woman yet and I wanted to keep her from getting any ideas that would lead to her gossiping about it in the Capitol. We didn't need anyone getting any ideas and making speculations.

I secretly touched his hand with mine, caressing his palm, as I used my body to block Effie Trinket's view. "I'll meet you in the dining car." My voice was barely above a whisper, but I could tell he had heard my voice as he gave me a slight nod and reluctantly pulled his hand away from mine before entering his chambers.

I took in a deep breath as I entered my chambers. The lighting was dim at first due to there being no windows in the surprisingly spacious room. I had this place all to myself, with a soft bed covered with a thick, plush blue blanket with two large, matching pillows, a vanity dresser filled with expensive but comfortable looking clothes - which I found out once I went exploring my room - and even a bathroom with the amenities that were far too expensive to have in District Twelve; like hot and cold running water.

My guess was that the Capitol wanted the 26 unlucky tributes to feel like we were their guests instead of this year's entertainment. I couldn't help but roll my eyes in disgust like the thought. This entire room was almost as big as my house and it made me think of home. I sank on my bed as I finally let the tears fall. I didn't have to hide anymore in the privacy of my room. I curled into a ball on the bed and just let it all out. Once I was done crying, I wiped my tears and sat up. I had to be strong now. I'd had my moment of weakness. Now it was time to be strong and survive the games as long as I could. I stood up, ready to face whatever came next.

I pulled my reaping dress gently over my shoulders, trying not to rip the fabric. I would have to ask Effie Trinket to send the dress back home if I as I readied myself for my first shower. It took me a moment to figure out how the shower worked, but once I did, I immediately stepped into the space. I sighed at the blissful sensation. It felt like summer rain was dripping down my body. I pressed each of the four buttons to the side of the shower heads, discovering what each one produced. Two, side by side each other, had a vanilla scented shampoo and conditioner, another had peach fragmented body wash, and the fourth produced sweet smelling oils that made my skin tingle. When I stepped out of the shower, the mat under my feet sent a hot but comfortable breeze swirling around my body to dry my skin and hair. I'd never known such things to exist. It was almost overwhelming to see how differently people of the Capitol lived compared to the people in the districts. It made me hate them even more and want to see their demise. I pushed those thoughts away, knowing I'd have to deal with them these next few days. I had to pretend I liked them. As hard as that might be, I'd try my best.

I pulled on a white housecoat after drying off and re-entered the bedroom to find something pleasant to wear for the rest of the train ride. There were so many options to choose from but I eventually settled upon a forest green shirt and dark green pants with one inch boots of dark mahogany brown. Before leaving the room for good, I gently pinned Madge's gift to me on my shirt, to the left of my heart. With the bird sitting atop the green fabric of my shirt I could almost imagine the animal in the forest back home, whistling out the songs I'd sing when hunting was slow. Songs my father had taught me when I was still young.

I took one last look at the room and thought silently to myself, _If I win this, I'll be back in this very room_. The thought troubled me somewhat and made me think about how these trains weren't designed just for tributes but also for the lucky ones who became victors. Of course only one of these rooms would see use again before the next Games began.

I shook my head quickly, that was not something I should dwell on. My growling stomach gave me time to think of something other than the Hunger Games, and also reminded me that a second lunch was waiting for me in the dining car. I preceded to the adjacent train car, stopping only to breathe in the strong scents of food that I had never smelled before in my life. My mouth watered and my stomach growled once more. I smiled, thinking for the first time in a long time I might actually be able to eat my fill.

The sliding door to the dining carriage opened to reveal more food laid upon trays throughout the cabin. The table that had been empty on our arrival was now covered with highly breakable dishes covered with different appetizers on each dish. They all looked highly edible and mouthwatering; in fact my mouth drooled a bit at the sight and the smell and I licked my lips in anticipation.

Peeta was sitting in the top right chair of the table, his plate littered with the selections of the extravagant lunch that lay before him. I took the empty seat to his left and gazed at all the food, really taking the magnitude of it all in. Thick carrot soup, salad with chunks of vegetables laid in with the leafy greens, lamb chops sided with mashed potatoes and steamed mushrooms all covered in a thick gravy sauce, a spread of fruit and cheese some I had never even seen before and in the very middle of the polished table was a large triple layered chocolate cake.

I began to mound the food high on my plate. I figured I might as well put on a few more pounds before the Games, who knew when I'd be able to eat something this rich again.

"Where is Haymitch?" Effie Trinket asked cheerfully as she sat down and helped herself to a glass of wine and a lamb chop with its delicious side dishes.

"He's over there taking a nap," Peeta reported promptly, nodding his head over to one of the armchairs. A tuft of dirty blonde hair could be slightly seen from where we sat.

Effie Trinket gazed over and seemed a little relieved. "Well it's been an exhausting day." Which to me meant she was happy not to be physically assaulted by him again today, at least not before she had her meal any way.

Her gaze returned to us and she smiled happily at something, which she announced in a ecstatic voice. "At least you two have decent manners," she chimed as she daintily sipped her wine. "The last year's pair ate everything with their hands. They were complete savages and it utterly ruined my digestion." Peeta and I exchanged glances. The last pair of tributes were both from the Seam, a place where you didn't need table manners since you probably didn't eat very much to begin with.

Peeta had them because he was raised in the marketplace, an area where manners are almost required, while my mom taught Prim and me how to eat properly, always stating that we should be ready if my grandmother ever made her rare appearance. So of course Peeta and I knew how to manage a knife and fork.

But even so, Effie Trinket's comment got to me. As I looked at Peeta a smile appeared on my face. He smirked at me; this boy always knew what I was thinking. We made a point to eat with our hands for the rest of the meal, wiping them on the tablecloth when we were finished.

This made Effie Trinket purse her lips as she sipped her wine. It was then that I started feeling a little sick; I glance over to see that Peeta's a little green too. Guess our stomachs couldn't handle such rich foods. But if I can handle keeping down Greasy Sae's winter specialty - a soup made of ground wild dog meat, tree bark and her _special spices_ \- then I can manage keeping all the rich food I ate in my stomach.

Once the meal was finished, Effie rose from her seat and walked to the sitting area. While waiting for Peeta and I to move our slow and very full bodies over to the chairs, Effie pressed a round button on the wall to reveal a holo screen on the blank surface. She turned the two chairs facing the opposite direction around and seated herself beside Haymitch, while letting Peeta and myself sit in the chairs she had turned around.

For the next half hour or so we watched the replay of the reapings, to see our competition. A few stood out to me. The volunteer tributes of Districts One and Two always stood out. I even remembered their names, unfortunately. Glimmer Azura, age 17 as told to viewers at the bottom of the screen, with her long, sharp blonde hair volunteered curtly for the small 13 year old whose name had been drawn. Her volunteering much like the others from her district as well and Two and Four's, was not done out of kindness or love but glory and honour. In fact from the age of 5 onward until you were too old, children of Districts One, Two and Four went to academies specially designed to train them for the Hunger Games. Even though this was technically illegal, the Capitol allowed it as Career Tributes, or Careers as they were more commonly referred to, were from the most richest Districts and favourites of the Capitol.

Glimmer's fellow tribute was Marvel Sanford, also 17 years old. He had an almost humorous look on his face as he ascended the stage after proudly volunteering for a boy similar in age and height to him. The boy he'd volunteered for had been mad, but there was nothing he could do to change what had happened. Marvel had volunteered and they had to take him.

"I wonder how the Career Districts decide who gets to volunteer for the Games?" Peeta said, as a similar question had entered my own thoughts.

Surprisingly Haymitch's voice answered Peeta's wondering thought, "The day before the games, all the kids that are eligible to enter compete in a tournament. The winners of each gender gets to volunteer that year. It's non-fatal fighting, though I have heard that some end up in intensive care."

I was about to say something until District Two's reaping began on the screen. The girl volunteer, Clove Fentwall, age 15, looked like an extremely determined and intelligent girl who took her time to ascend the stage after volunteering for an older girl. The older girl gave her a menacing look as she punched her in face and a fight began between them. It lasted several minutes before the Peacekeepers pulled them apart and the older girl, badly beaten, was carried away by the Peacekeepers.

"Better watch out for that girl, District Two's known for its fierce female tributes." Haymitch explained, adding on, "The majority of the victors from District Two are female."

Once the excitement died down the escort for District Two pulled out the slip for the boy tribute. What happened next was exceedingly rare in any of the Career Districts. The boy to which the slip belonged to, had no one volunteer for him. His name was Cato Hadley, age 18, and he was a vicious looking boy with a look in his eyes that could kill. I knew that I needed to watch out for both of them. They would make the competition harder, but I knew if I got my hands on a bow, I could kill them from a distance. Resolve flittered through me. I would have to kill these people. I'd never taken a human life before, but if I pictured them as game, then I should be fine. At least I hoped so. I shook my head to pay attention as Peeta nudged my foot.

The program moved to the District Three reaping. "Those four are the ones to look out for." Haymitch told us looking very serious as he said the words. "They're the mostly likely to win, especially the ones from District Two. Capitol pets are the favourites."

I turned my head away from Haymitch completely missing the District Three reaping and only saw the end of District Four's. Peeta told me there wasn't much to watch. District Three had Cida Elect, age 13, and Sextus Wirre, age 14. District Four's had the usual volunteer tributes, Auricula Poole, age 16, and Wade Fairtide, age 14.

District Five had an interesting female tribute, Finch Swift, age 15. She had sleek red hair and a face that reminded me of the foxes I saw in the forest back home. I decided from then on I'd call her Fox for this remarkable resemblance.

The reaping for Districts Six to Nine didn't have any memorable tributes, the same was said for District Ten's female tribute, but the male tribute was a different story.

When the escort called out the name Joshua Raysh, a 16 year old boy with a crippled foot limbed through the crowd and hobbled onto the stage. Everyone watched as the escort asked for a volunteer and astonishingly a tall and very large boy in the crowd of 18 year olds raised his hand and volunteered. As the crippled boy descended the stage the 18 year old walked up and hugged him like I had when saying goodbye to Prim. He whispered something into Joshua's ear and returned to climb up onto the platform. His name made everything clear to why he had volunteered for the boy; Canwarn Raysh. No one could automatically tell if he was the boy's brother, a relative, or just a friend but I could, just by the hug he had given him, I could tell they were related in some way.

"He's going to be competition for you, Katniss." Effie Trinket told me, "The Capitol loves when family volunteer for family. Though, your reaping was much more moving than that." I felt as if she was trying to reassure me.

I shook my head lightly, returning my eyes to the screen to see the most haunting of the tributes, a twelve-year-old girl from District Eleven. The girl had dark brown skin and eyes but reminded me so much, so painfully, of Prim. My heart stopped when the escort asked for volunteers and no one said a word. You could almost hear the wind whistling through the decrepit buildings around her. I whispered her name under my breath, "Rue Calla." Just as the male tribute's name was pulled out.

Thresh Gunthorn, age 18, was taller than any of the other tributes I had seen thus far. He had a cold and aloof feeling about him as he walked onto the stage. As usual no one volunteered.

I took in a deep breath to ready myself for the next reaping; my reaping.

As the shots passed before me, I felt as if I was watching the scene through another's eyes. I watched as my sister got reaped, as the whole crowd went silent. I saw myself run to her, pulling her behind my body as I yelled that I would volunteer as tribute. The camera gets in close to my face and I noticed the determination in my eyes but also the threatening tears. Gale soon pulled Prim away from my side and I walked onto the stage.

The commentators, Caesar Flickerman - Master of Ceremonies and interviewer of the Games - and Claudius Templesmith - announcer of the Games - were both speechless about the silent goodbye, but soon Caesar stated, "District Twelve has always been strange but local customs can be delightful. And there you have it, District Twelve's first ever female volunteer. A heartbreaking tradition but a silent one at that." He wiped a tear from his eye. It was almost comical, especially with Effie Trinket's silent sobs. How dare they show any emotion for us. They had no hearts. They were monsters. They did this to us. I wanted to jump through the screen and slap them. Rage filled me and I found my hands shaking. I cupped them in my lap and tried to calm down. I had to relax. I looked over at Peeta, watching his face as he stared at the tv. His presence grounded me, bringing me back to where I needed to be. I turned back to the tv.

I watched as the camera zoomed in on me and then switched to Haymitch shouting, "This girl's got spunk, bravo, bravo." as he falls off the stage. This receives a comical laugh from both of the veteran commentators.

I heard Effie Trinket's voice muttering from behind me before Peeta's name is called. "Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation. A lot about televised behaviour." She acted like she meant to whisper it, but I knew she wanted Haymitch to overhear.

Peeta and I shared a light laugh with Haymitch answering Effie's comment while Peeta and I shake hands on the recap, "I know more than you think Effie."

Effie Trinket let out a short huff and looked to the screen. It has now switched to District Thirteen and the flamboyant escort in a flashy red unitard had already asked for any volunteers for Diane Boyle, a short 16 year with a frightened look on her face. When no volunteer came forth the escort pulled out the slip of paper where the male tribute's name was written. His name was Trevor Kelly, he was 15 and not very memorable. After the two shook hands the program faded to black.

Effie Trinket got up stating she was going to change before we reached the Capital which would be in about three to four hours. I muttered, "If it takes her that long to change, I wonder how long it would take for her to get ready for bed."

I heard a drunken laugh behind me, suddenly feeling hands on my chair as I'm spun 180 degrees. I stopped with Haymitch's drunken face leaning toward mine. "Okay girl let's talk about the Games," he slurred, breath smelling of spirits, and fell into his chair.

The action had surprised me, taking me off guard. Thankfully Peeta, who had turned around in his chair looking at Haymitch, spoke up "What advice do you have for us?"

Haymitch replied in an annoying tone with a smirk on his face, "Stay alive."

"That's not funny," Peeta growled, lashing out at the glass Haymitch had in his hand. The glass flew through the air before landing with a crash on the floor some feet away. I flinched at the sound and wondered what Haymitch would do. He didn't flinch as he punched Peeta in the face, not holding back. The move sent Peeta spiraling to the ground as his face jerked sideways. He groaned as he rolled onto his back and sat up, glaring at Haymitch. I intervened before Peeta tried to hit the poor drunk back. I reached down, giving him a hand as I led him to an ice bucket.

He started to raise some ice to the growing red mark on his jaw and his bleeding split lip, but Haymitch's next words stopped him. "No, let it show. Makes you look tough. Take it like a man. This game isn't made for boys. The Capitol might even think you got rough with another tribute."

"That's against the rules," Peeta reminded him as he placed the ice on his bruise.

Haymitch began to smirk at us, and I wondered if it was the only expression he knew how to wear. "Only if you get caught. So what can you do honey?" he asked me calmly.

I didn't hesitate as I grabbed a knife sitting close to me on the table. I threw it, watching in satisfaction as it found its mark between the two panels, causing Haymitch to whistle. "Nice," he stated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He continued, "I've got a couple of fighters this year, and you're not entirely hopeless. You're fit. And once your stylists get a hold of you, you'll both be eye-catching enough. And that, sweetheart, is what's most important about the Games."

I looked at him curiously, "Looking eye-catching?" My words seemed to have an almost bored tone to them.

"No princess. You want people to like you and so far you're not doing a good job," Haymitch told me, getting up to pour himself another glass of spirits. "In order to get sponsors you have to look good and be likeable, and from what I can tell you've only got the looking good part."

I glared at him but before I could make any retort Peeta asked calmly, "How do you regulate what we get from sponsors when in the arena?"

"Depending on if you do get sponsors, I regulate them, as you say, by which ones you need more. Let's say you're in the arena and you're starving because there's no game to hunt. I'd send you food from the sponsors I try to get for you. Now let's say a sponsor gave you a piece of expensive jewelry while you were starving, and trust me I've seen it happen. I won't send you that, and I'd probably find you a new sponsor." Haymitch took a big gulp before continuing. He walked over and sat back down, getting comfortable before continuing.

"Sponsors mean life or death in the arena and if I get you the right ones. You could be able to survive to the last man... if you survive the bloodbath that is." I nodded, understanding what he meant by that last point. The bloodbath happened during the first twenty or so minutes of the game that was basically a full scale slaughter cutting the number of tributes almost in half, leaving only the fittest, smartest, or the ones who were too scared to stay and fight. Most tributes who survived the bloodbath would be able to survive the next few days, if they weren't the ones who were too scared to fight.

"The majority of sponsors won't pick you until there's about fifteen or so tribute left. Don't want to risk losing money on someone who dies before the Games even start," Haymitch explained as he lounged on his chair. "And since only twenty of the forty six tributes I've mentored have gotten that far in the Games, sponsors tend not the go anywhere near District Twelve tributes. Let's show them that you're a good investment, okay?" His eyes were on me as he said the words, almost as if they were especially for me.

Since he was already looking at me I decided to ask him, "Is it true mentors are allowed to send notes to their tributes with the gifts they send?" I remembered in previous years seeing some of the tributes receiving gifts with notes of encouragement written on thin pieces of paper from their mentors.

Haymitch nodded his head slowly. "Occasionally a mentor will send gifts with notes for tributes inside. The most noteable ones that I can remember were with the Shine siblings."

Gloss and Cashmere Shine to be precise. I remembered them. They won their Games back to back, but that wasn't what the Capitol got excited about. The reason was that their parents Clos and Pashmina Shine were also victors of the Games. Clos had won the 59th Hunger Games and his girlfriend, later wife, Pashmina had won the 62nd Games. As Caesar likes to say whenever siblings were reaped, that the Shine family from District One made the Hunger Games a family event.

Peeta's next question snapped my thoughts out of their recollection. "This may seem rude to ask, but, can you tell us a bit about yourself? I mean we're probably both going to die in these games so it's not like we can tell anybody. And Effie's gone to pamper herself. So..." he trailed off, not really thinking that Haymitch was going to oblige his odd and very personal request.

Haymitch looked straight at Peeta, a smirk gracing his lips. "You've got stones kid. Not many would have the courage to ask. Get me another drink and I'll tell you whatever you want to know boy."

Peeta smiled almost triumphantly at his success, rising to get another drink for Haymitch. Haymitch handed Peeta the glass and clapped his hands as he started at the beginning of his life. "First thing I'm sure you two both know, is that I was born into the privileged life. Well I guess that's what you'd call being born the son of the butcher," he said, flipping his hair away from his eyes and taking the drink from Peeta. "I ate more meat than you two would in a day and I knew how to use a butcher's knife since I was the young age of six.

"My parents were average, my mom was the daughter of the marketplace seamstress and dad, obviously, was the butcher's only son. I had two younger brothers, Kalor and Devon. We lived pretty normal lives, well for three boys growing up in District Twelve. My life changed for the worst when my little brother Devon turned 12. At this time I was 15, one year away to getting reaped for the Third Quarter Quell, and Kalor was 14.

"Life for me, was just starting. I can remember it was like it was yesterday," he paused, taking a sip of his drink. I moved to the edge of my seat, curiosity getting the better of me. I didn't want to miss a single detail. Haymitch took one more drink and wiped the back of his mouth with his hand before continuing. "I had just begun dating my sweet Cassie. My father had just taken over the butcher's shop from my grandfather. Everything was looking up for my family. Until, well... everything went to hell. All because of the stupid fucking Games," Haymitch growled. "Pardon my language." He paused for just a minute to take another gulp of his drink. It made me wonder if maybe this man had a heart after all. Was this story tearing him up? I watched his face closely as he continued once more.

"It was 74th Hunger Games that started it. My baby brother was reaped his first time out, just like your little sister, Katniss. But before Kalor or I could volunteer for him, m-my… my father r-r-ran out…" he gulped, his voice breaking, "and grabbed Devon. He started shouting and yelling that he wasn't going to let his little boy go into these Games, that the Capitol couldn't take him away from his family. It was like my father had forgotten that he had two strong boys who could probably win the games if they volunteered for his youngest son." Haymitch downed the last of his drink as he clutched the glass so tightly in anger, that it broke, cutting into his skin. I opened my mouth to ask him if he was okay, but he kept going, ignoring the pain and the blood. "The Peacekeepers didn't waste time to pull Devon away from my father. And then... they shot him… they murdered my father right there in front of the Justice Building with thousands of people looking on." Haymitch clutched his hands so tight that blood dripped down his hand and onto the expensive carpet. "They killed my father in front of his boys, his wife, the entire District." Haymitch wiped the now flowing tears off his face and regained some of his composure.

"Before I could volunteer for Devon. Kalor shot his hand right up and yelled at the top of his lungs, 'I volunteer as tribute!'." Haymitch yelled the words at the same volume I imagined his brother had. "Kalor Blackwell became District Twelve's first volunteer ever and almost won too, if it hadn't been for that kid from District Seven. It should have been me. I should have been the one to volunteer. But he beat me to it. I lost not only my father, but my brother."

"Wait," I interrupted recalling something he had said. "I thought your last name was Abernathy, not Blackwell."

Haymitch turned to me with a glare for breaking the atmosphere he had set up with his chilling story. "A month after my father's death and the loss of my brother, my mother, Kathrine, went back to using her maiden name, Abernathy." Anger lit up his eyes and became almost a living thing inside of him. It made me shiver at his tone and the anger I could feel radiating off of him. "She erased any part of her connection to my father. She also legally changed mine and Devon's surname to Abernathy as well. I tried to keep my name, but she wouldn't allow it and I wasn't old enough to have any say.

"After that day my family lived in relative peace. The District even gave my father a medal of valor secretly for what he had done, though they pretended it was because he died rescuing my little brother from a rogue bear attack." He huffed, "My mother sold the shop to the son of the Seam butcher and went back to being a seamstress for her family. I was allowed to apprentice myself to become a butcher though my mother hated every day I came home smelling of frozen meat. It reminded her too painfully of my father." He stood up, wiping his bloody hand on his pants. I winced, knowing that it probably hurt and would definitely stain. He nodded at them. "Anyway. That's enough for today. I'm ready to retire for the remainder of the ride."

"Wait! What happened during your games?" Peeta asked him, probably hoping for a similar response to his first question, but instead Haymitch brushed his question aside.

"That boy, is a story for another time. I'm going to my cabin for another nap," he told us and walked out hitting Effie Trinket on his way out.

Peeta and I both smirked slightly, trying to portray that nothing had changed, yet it tremendously had. I held a new respect for my mentor. He'd been through a lot.

Effie Trinket looked at us. "How odd you two find Haymitch's actions so amusing. He is your mentor, the second most important piece in the Games. Haymitch can be the difference between your life and your death." She stuck up her nose and continued walking until she saw the knife I had thrown before. "What is this?"

I gulped as I muttered, "A knife in the wall. Pretty good shot to."

"I see that, Katniss. Will you please take it out… Now!" her voice rose as she tapped her foot against the carpet flooring. I glared at her as I got up and pulled the knife out quickly, causing her to jump a bit. I walked to the table and stabbed the knife into the expensive dark wood. "That is mahogany," she hissed at me in a threatening tone. I ignored her and stomped away to the back of the train.

The last car of the train was the observation car, with windows that wrapped around the wall and ceiling in a semi-oval. A crescent shaped couch was pushed against the walls with matching red chairs on either side. They were separated by small tables with lamps and small pots of plants. There were two coffee tables in the center of the car with more potted plants. I sneezed as the scent slammed into me. It was almost overpowering, but I'd get used to it. I moved to sit on the couch resting my chin on my folded hands watching the scenery go by with a solemn yet nostalgic expression on my face.

I sat in silence for a long time before I suddenly heard the sound of the door slide open. It almost made me jump but when you'd been out in the woods as much as I had, you learn not to be spooked by startling noises. I turned my head slowly to see that the person who entered the car was Peeta. He made his way towards the couch and took a seat on the cushion beside me.

I thought at first he was going to say something to me, but for a long while we sit in silence. It only broke when I asked him calmly, "Effie Trinket still pissed at me?"

Peeta smirked, shaking his head. "Not anymore. She cried for a little about how expensive the table was, but I calmed her down." He then added with a grin this time, "I did that almost 2 hours ago."

I laughed at the knowledge that I had been in the car in complete silence for almost 2 hours. No wonder my legs were feeling numb. "Guess that means we'll be in the Capitol soon huh?"

Peeta nodded. "Actually we're going to be pulling into the station in a few minutes. That's why I came to find you. Effie said she wants us both in the dining car. Last minutes checks or something."

I nodded and stared out the window, watching as the scenery suddenly changed into the darkness of a tunnel that engulfed the train.

I hated being encased in rock this way. It made me feel frightened and small. I suddenly felt Peeta's arms around my waist. I leaned into him as this calmed me and made me feel stronger. The tunnel disappeared in a few seconds and the train began to slow. Suddenly bright lights flooded into the compartment and Peeta and I stared in amazement at the Capitol, the reigning city of Panem. I wasn't being metaphorical when I said the Capitol was shining; every towering building was made of shining metals that caught the light of the sun and made everything glisten in the light. Sleek cars of all shades of the rainbow drove down the paved black streets where multitudes of oddly dressed, well-fed people walked on the sidewalks; some were walking their oddly coloured dogs or other creatures I had never seen in real life before. The strangest were two purple tigers with silver leashes being walked being a tall woman with a matching coloured fur dress, shoes, and hair.

This odd Capitol woman and others around her looked up at us, pointing to the train that they knew was a tribute train, probably by the colouring or the small size. I looked away from the window. I didn't want to see the people that hoped for my death. My sweet Peeta held his ground and waved while smiling at the people below. He stopped as we pull into the clean white station.

I stared at him. Why the hell would he wave at the people who were waiting to see us die? Peeta shrugged, as if knowing what I was thinking. "One of them may want to sponsor someone." I smiled and kissed his cheek hoping he's right. My Peeta's a fighter, and I knew he would do anything to keep me alive... even sacrifice himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome the Third Chapter of the Untold Hunger Games. As usual here's the disclaimer; I don't own the Hunger Games or any of it's characters. Now that is done, please leave a comment, question and/or review. I'll even pm you back or address it in the chapter after the one you commented and/or reviewed :3**

 **Also I'd like to give a shout out to this revision's beta reader** _Destiny1404_ **. If you'd like to read any of her stuff there's a link to her fiction press account on my profile. Thank for all the hard work you do girl :3**

 **Without farther ado let's move to Chapter Three.**

* * *

I hated the feeling of Effie Trinket's long nails digging into my shoulder as we waited in a dark walled room filled with the other twenty four tributes and their similarly nervous escorts. I was always under the impression that the Capitol was clean and bright, with as many windows on the buildings as possible, but this room, right beside the bustling, sun light station, had not a single window in sight. Of course I knew exactly where we all were; right beside the stables of the grand Remake Center.

The building above us contrasted highly with the room we stood in. Thousands of windows lined the four floors, and possibly the main entrances. It's shining white wall glistened like every other building in the Capitol. Where I was now, was a large dimly light room tall enough and high enough for the tribute trains to pull into. I was currently sitting on one of the thirteen double benches, the only items to be found in the room, besides the train tracks and the four elevators just to our left. We had been waiting twenty minutes, after getting off of our train.

I didn't know why we had to wait so long. Our train was the last to arrive, just a few minutes after the District Eleven, which was far from the Capital but not as far as my district. I took a few minutes to look at the tributes Peeta and I sat to the left of; the ones from District Thirteen. Well if you wanted to be technical they were from the current District Thirteen.

The original District Thirteen - built upon the industry of nuclear weaponry - was the supposive orchestrators of the rebellion, at least that's what we were told in school, and had been bombed several years before the new District Thirteen was created.

Seventy eight years ago the District Thirteen of today's Panem was discovered after several farms in District Ten found oil on their lands. District Three's scientists were brought in and discovered almost a third of the District had rich oil flowing beneath the ground. This was probably both a pain and a blessing to the Capitol, seeing as they gained a district but lost a third of a pre-existing one. In fact the Capitol wasted no time in building enough homes and facilities for the 4000 people, from District One, Two and Twelve, they sent to live in the new district. Oddly enough the newly built District Thirteen was both the one of the richest and poorest district in Panem. This was due to the two largest demographics District Thirteen had. The workers of the oil rigs and refineries were more poor than even the miners of my home. Oddly enough they were originally from District Twelve, probably due to their knowledge in mining. The other class was the one who controlled the workers; overseers, as they called them in the Capitol. This small class was built of families who were old residents of Districts One and Two and used to lives of luxury and status.

Diane and Trevor were obviously children of oil rig workers, mostly noticeably - besides the old, over worn clothes they had worn during their- by the black stains on their skin and under their nails. An unfortunate side effect, I assume, of living very close to the oil rigs. It was also notable because the child of an overseer would look cleaner than the white walls of the Capitol buildings.

I felt sorry for these kids, since I knew exactly how it felt to be born into a life of the working class; hard and almost impossible to bear at times.

I turned my head to look at the other tributes, but the sound of the elevators stopping on our floor made me look in that direction. Just as my eyes traveled to there, nine tall Peacekeepers walked out of the pristine elevators. Out of the nine only one, a rare female Peacekeeper, had her helmet off to display her long, tied back, black hair and dark olive skin. In her hands she held a thin glass device that had electronic writing written on it.

She stopped in front of us and stood tall. "Up on your feet tributes!" she said, treating us as if we were Peacekeepers, a blank expression covering her face. We all stood slowly. The Careers had smug looks on their faces as they had got up faster than the rest of us, "I am Commander Athena Ignatius," the female Peacekeeper continued, "Head of tribute security. I'm here to make sure you all make it to the arena alive and in one piece."

She looked at us all like we were going to die, and apart from one of us, her gaze was right. "These Peacekeepers to my left and right will be taking you to your assigned floors to meet your personal prep teams and stylists. Report to your assigned Peacekeeper when I call your district and gender."

She began with the boys first, calling out the district and gender of those assigned to the first Peacekeeper. I assume that two Peacekeepers each had a floor they were assigned to and a different gender for each pair.

The floor assignments weren't by your district's number but by how rich your district was. The first floor was for the three richest districts; Districts One, Two and Four. The second was were the next richest ones were assigned to; Districts Three, Six and Thirteen. The third had Districts Five, Seven and Eight; districts that were well off financially. And the last floor, the fourth floor, was for the poorest districts; Districts Nine, Ten, Eleven and Twelve.

"Female Tributes from Ten, Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen you're assigned to Roth." she said and turned to the boys of those districts. My head spun when I heard her say that. _Why are the tributes from Thirteen on the same floor as the poor districts? Is it because the tributes are both from oil rig workers?_ I pondered the thought in my head as I was pushed towards the elevator.

* * *

My heart was threatening to burst from my chest as the Peacekeeper held his firm grip on my arm. He was guiding me towards the last door at the end of the fourth floor, on the side dedicated to female tributes. He raised his hand slowly to the button on the side of the door and ordered strongly, "In."

I did as I was told, not liking it all that much, taking a cautious step inside. It was a spacious silver room, with a table in the centre. Carts and trays with various products laid on them were dotted about the room. On the wall were bizarre looking machines. I had no clue what they were used for, but I had an odd feeling I was about to discover their uses.

The most bizarre and oddest thing about the room were the two women and the man who swarmed around me. Like flies around a light bulb. _My prep team_ , I thought as the door shut behind me deafeningly. My ears had little time to adjust before I was pulled into a sitting position on the table.

"Hello, you must be Katniss," The man said in the same silly Capitol accent everyone had here. "Cinna, your fabulous stylist, has told us exactly want he wants us to do with you. I'm Flavius." His hands went up in the air in a flamboyant manner that almost caused me to burst out laughing, but I held my laughter back. I didn't want him to take offense. "I'm in charge of making sure your hair looks as beautiful and perfect as humanly possible. I'll also be working on your makeup so it will make you sparkle and shine." Flavius's voice and mannerism weren't the only things flamboyant about him. His hair was like orange corkscrews, spiralling up toward the ceiling in short bursts of colour. His lips were painted a vibrant shade of purple completely contrasting his hair. What didn't work were the shimmering blue gloves and matching jacket he wore over a denim shirt and pants.

My hands were soon pulled into the hands of an aqua haired woman with gold streaked tattoos above her eyebrows. She seemed calmer than Flavius and the other member I had yet to be introduced to. Her voice was sharp, but kind as she introduced herself, "It's a pleasure to meet you Katniss. I'm Venia and I'm here to make sure you free of all that nasty body hair and to make sure your eyebrows don't look like caterpillars climbing up your face."

Before I could remark that my eyebrows did not look that way, I was spun around and staring into the brown eyes of a... Green skinned woman? I seriously had to rethink my thoughts on the Capitol's ideas of beauty.

"Hello Katniss, my name is Octavia," the green skinned woman said in a voice as bubbly as Effie Trinket's. "I'm here to colour and shape those nails of yours and no doubt try and remove the dirt." She muttered the last little bit, thinking I hadn't heard, when of course I had.

Venia suddenly turned me around to face her, a serious expression on her aqua-caressed face. "Let's get to work, shall we?"

For the next three hours I'm in a living hell. They don't waste any time in stripping me naked and demanding that I get into a little room with a all kinds of knobs and nozzles. Venia told me to close my eyes and I found myself obeying. I felt something hit my skin and gasped, getting soap in my mouth. I spat it out and heard Flavius tsk as he handed me a glass of water. They each took a brush of a different color and began scrubbing at my skin until I felt I had none left. My skin was on fire and completely bare as the soap ate at my hair and got rid of the first two layers of dead skin. I had to admit that I loved how soft my skin felt, but hoped I never had to go through that torture again.

Octavia handed me a robe and told me to put it on as she leads me to a different chair. She put her hands on my shoulders and pushed me back, making me lay flat. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth as she smoothed hot wax over my eyes. I bit my lip to keep from screaming as she pulled the cloth strips off, taking my eyebrows with her. I swear she left me with hardly anything left. Octavia put some soothing cream on them after and it cooled my skin and took away the pain. When she handed me a hand held mirror to look in, I was amazed that they weren't red. Next she began working on my nails after sitting my chair back up and handing me a glass of water to drink. I watched as she filed and clipped my nails before painting a clear liquid over them. Afterward she told me it was to make them stronger.

Finally I was done with them. My nails were clean and looked neat. My body was as smooth as silk and made me look soft. My eyebrows were debatable, but I guess I liked them if I was forced to admit it. I stood there in front of them, waiting for a response. If they weren't satisfied, I'd have to endure the torture longer. I held my breath as Flavius opened his mouth to speak.

"Wonderful, you're ready for Cinna," Flavius said clapping his hands together. I was still wondering what this mysterious Cinna would be like.

"Thank you." I almost laughed as I realized I managed to say this without clenching my teeth.

"We'll be right back darling," Octavia squealed as the diverse trio hurried out of the room. I was so glad to see them leave. I wasn't sure that my mind could take another second in their presence.

I stand there alone and nude, as I removed the robe I was given, knowing my stylist would ask me to whenever he arrived. I imaged him to be as flamboyant and feminine as the majority of male Capitol stylists I'd seen. He'd probably say my braid, that my prep team had left untouched, was an adorable style. As I touched that same braid I thought of my mother and Prim. They were probably so afraid right then, knowing that they might never see me again. I pictured my mother sitting on her couch with Prim curled in her lap watching our old television screen, with my grandmother in the seat beside them, as it played repeats of the Reaping every hour until the rest of Pre Games began.

The Pre Games were more like Pre Hunger Games events than actual games. They were over a span of four days and consisted of four events; the Reaping, the Chariot Rides, the Training Days and the Pre Game Interviews. I doubted that these events were just for show, and actually had a real purpose. As I stood there alone in the cold room I thought about what those purposes could be. Obviously the Reapings were to select the tributes of each year and give the Capitol half a day to meet them before the Chariot Rides started. The Chariot Rides were basically a glorified fashion show on wheels, meant to impress sponsors around the Capitol into sponsoring and donating gifts to the tributes they believed made the best impact on them. I laughed aloud, thinking like that was even important. Really the most important event happened behind the cameras. The three days dedicated to training the tributes. This was what I was looking forward to. Part of me wanted to show off my skills, while another told me to be cautious and hide that I was good with a bow. I'd have to ask Haymitch his opinion.

The Training Days were made apart of the Pre Game events before the Chariot Rides were even brought into the games. In a room underneath the huge Tribute Center, where all the tributes lived during these three days, tributes would not only get to train with all kinds of weapons, but learn the survival skills necessary to at least last the first day in the arena. I knew I would excel at those. I was a survivalist, a stealthy aerial hunter. I knew more about snaring food, building fires, and identifying dangerous or edible plants than any of the rich Careers would know. But I doubted that would matter since at the end of the Training Days all the mattered was the training score you got. And the gamemakers who watched you through the Training Days wouldn't care if you could do all that. They only cared about your skills with a weapon, or your speed or strength. Something that made you stand out from the other tributes.

The sound of the door closing in front of me knocked me back into the room, out of my thoughts. I watched as a young, normal looking, dark olive skinned man entered the room. _This_ was Cinna?

I was a little amused by how normal he looked. His hair wasn't dyed, instead a natural shade of brown. He wore it short and in a normal style unlike other Capitol men. He had a subtle mustache and beard, that were unlike many other Capitol men who had theirs shaved in weird and bizarre shapes. He wore a long black shirt and black jeans with a pair of black sneakers. I wondered why that part of the Capitol hadn't gotten to him. His eyeliner and six gold earrings - four in the left ear and two in the right - were the only thing altered about him. The eyeliner he wore was gold and had been applied lightly to his eyelids bringing out the flecks of gold in his caring green eyes.

"That was one of the bravest things I've ever seen," he said, reaching out to shake my hand. "With your sister," he added and I noticed his voice didn't have the Capitol accent; instead it sounded normal and strong. "Hello Katniss, I'm Cinna."

"You're my stylist?" I asked calmly.

He nodded. "Yes, that's right. Let's see how the team did." He circled me slowly, surveying my naked body. For some reason, I didn't feel violated. After careful thought, I realized Cinna radiated an aura of protection; protection that only came from a father. "I like your hair. Who did it?" he asked softly, his eyes held a genuine look of curiosity to them.

"My mother," I answered him, unlike with the other people who I had met today, I had no spite in my voice for Cinna.

"It's beautiful. Your mother is very talented and has light fingers." I smiled at him, genuinely. I felt like Cinna was someone I would trust with my deepest secrets, and he wouldn't tell a soul about them.

"Are you new?" The question was nagging at me. "All the other stylists that work for the Games are pretty recognizable. You must have got stuck with District Twelve, all the newcomers do."

Cinna smiled as he answers. "I am new, but I asked to be assigned to District Twelve. Why don't you cover up and we can have a chat over a nice meal." He handed me my robe, and I slipped it on before following him into a small room with two red velvet couches and a small wooden table. One of the four walls had been made into a window where you could see dusk on the horizon beyond the city.

Cinna took a seat on the couch closest to the window and I followed his action, watching as he pushed a small blue button on the table. Before my eyes a section of the table pulled away to reveal another one hide beneath with our meal resting on it. Chicken with glazed orange sauce on top with buttered peas and onions to the side. Beside them sat a basket of flower shaped rolls and a bowl of pudding the colour of honey. I thought of the meal and then how life in the Capitol must be like. They were never hungry, never saw people on the streets dying from lack of food. The people in this place never watched Peacekeepers carry people who died from starvation to the fence so their bodies could be used to keep the wild animals away.

"We must seem like despicable people in your eyes. All this food and money and we use it on ourselves or those we deem important. But that's not what we here to talk about. Tonight, they're going to have the usual Chariot Rides and you're going to go out and show yourself to the world."

"So you're here to make me look pretty?" I asked in a disappointed voice. I was hoping he wouldn't be like everyone else, but I guess I was wrong, until I heard what he said next.

"No, I'm here to help you make an impression on those people out there." He told me looking out the window at the Capitol scene. "My partner, Portia, is the stylist for your fellow tribute, Peeta. We decided together what outfits to dress you both in." My heart did a little jump when he said this.

In the Chariot Rides each tribute pair was dressed in matching costumes that reflected their District's particular industry. Just to name a few, there was District One which was luxury items, from fur, to diamonds, to expensive fabrics. They were always dressed luxuriously and glamorously. District Two's main industry was masonry as they built the buildings for Panem, mined precious gems, and cut varieties of stones from the building they built. They were usually dressed in costumes that were grey and colourless or looked like brick buildings. District Four, the last of the Career Districts, was built around the industry of fishing. The tributes from there were dressed in fishnet, coral, fish scales and sometimes all three. I remembered watching a replay of a Hunger Games years back when the stylists had made their tributes dress in all three. The reaction from the Capitol was hilarious, especially by how bad they looked that year.

District Six was transportation, building trains, cars, hovercrafts and so on. District Eight was textiles; this district was were all our clothings cheap fabrics and materials come from. District Eleven's industry was agriculture. They always had the costumes that smelled the most pleasing due to the orchids and vegetable fields they farmed. District Twelve's industry was coaling mining, so Peeta and I would probably be stuffed into skimpy outfits and silver hard hats with headlamps, or even be exposed naked with black powder all over us.

"Will I be in the usual mining outfit?" I asked holding my breath. I hoped to whoever could hear me that he was not the kind of stylist who liked the idea of just coal dust covering my body.

"No the coal miner thing is overdone; too many tributes have been seen in that style before, and Portia and I want you and Peeta to be remembered. To leave an impression that will make District Twelve unforgettable." Cinna had a sparkle in his eyes. I couldn't decide whether it was in his emerald colored eyes, or in the gold eyeliner he wore. "I don't think someone as brave as you should be dressed up in some stupid costume, now should they? So rather than focusing on the miners, we want to focus on the coal. Particularly the burning of coal." He then asked with a large grin, "How do you feel about fire?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome the Forth** **Chapter of the Untold Hunger Games. As usual here's the disclaimer; I don't own the Hunger Games or any of it's characters. Now that is done, please leave a comment, question and/or review. I'll even pm you back or address it in the chapter after the one you commented and/or reviewed :3**

 **This chapter and the preceding it are all about the chariot rides, I had fun with this and decided to remake all the outfits, apart from Twelve's, it took a lot of work but I happy to say that it turned out great. Thanks to Destiny for helping with making the description flow and writing the ones for Two, Six and Eight. She really wanted to do them, so I thought it would be nice to let her.**

 **All the descriptions were based off designs by Deviantartist,** _Tryaki-chan_ **, the links to all the designs I described can be found on my profile page if you'd like to take a look, because what's a Hunger Games without gorgeous chariot costumes :3**

 **Without farther ado let's move to Chapter Four.**

* * *

I'll tell you how I felt about fire being anywhere near me; very nervous.

But only a few hours later Cinna had me in my costume; a simple black unitard that covered me from ankle to neck with shiny leather boots laced up to my knees. My face was almost clean of makeup with a few highlights here and there. My hair was in its usual single braid. Flavius had wanted to do my hair with lots of looped braids, but when Cinna saw the picture of the hairstyle, he waved it aside politely – saying it looked too much like Princess Leia – who ever that was.

But it was the unseen cape behind us that defined the costume. Cinna planned to light it on fire just before our chariot rolled out onto the street.

"It's not real," he assured me. "It's synthetic fire that we just cooked up. It wouldn't burn you, your outfits are designed to protect you from the flames, it's perfectly safe." I still wasn't convinced. "I want people to remember you both as the tributes on fire."

I was relieved when Peeta showed up in an identical costume. His blonde hair was slicked back and free from hiding his bright blue eyes that I adored. I held myself back just barely from running towards him and wrapping my arms around him. Possibly even planting a big one right on his lips. Sometimes it sucked to behave.

We were brought down to the bottom of the Remake Center which was where the chariots and horses were housed before and after the opening ceremonies. The pairs of tributes all stood next to their chariots. A pair of horses pulled each chariot; ours were coal black.

All the horses were genetically modified to have the colours of the District whose chariot they pulled. They were also well trained and needed no instructions when it was time to pull their assigned chariot, which would be in another half hour.

My eyes soon went straight for the tributes but I was sad to see that besides Peeta and myself, who were already dressed in the colour, every tribute wore cloaks of black over their shoulders. I looked at Haymitch who had now joined us with the many other mentors, asking him why that was.

Haymitch smirked but it was Cinna who answered my question. "Hunger Games stylists like to cover their tributes so that their competition doesn't see their designs until the last minutes. It's been a tradition for about 49 years now. I believe it started during the Second Quarter Quell as a new rule added to the pre-Games," he explained, looking over our capes one more time as he did. "Since I didn't want you in those ridiculous capes I decided to make the main feature of your outfits hidden."

I could tell he was putting a lot at stake from doing that, since the other stylists were giving Cinna mocking glances and glares. Cinna noticed this and smiled, "Don't mind them, they're just jealous."

A light laugh escaped my lips and I tried to avoid the glares directed at my costume and my stylist, instead I focused my attention on the rare chance of seeing the victors of other districts close up. Though part of me wanted to put a cape on to ensure that nothing happened to Cinna for this bold move. But I'd believe him when he told me not to mind the others. Perhaps nothing would occur.

I was surprised to see the Shine family was present this year, all in matching shimmering blue clothings. It was odd because usually the newest victors would be mentoring the tributes and despite the fact that Cashmere and Gloss were newer victors, they weren't the newest. There were three victors from more recent games, two young women and a young man.

I looked over at Effie Trinket, asking her the question I had been wondering. "Why is the Shine family here? Shouldn't Marvel and Glimmer be mentored by newer victors?"

"Well that because Glimmer is a Shine, Katniss."

I looked at her in disbelief before Cinna corrected her. "She's the daughter of Satin Azura-Shine, the oldest of the Shine siblings. Gloss and Cashmere are the youngest of their their three other siblings, Satin, Calix and Blaze. They're also the only two of their siblings to be reaped into the games. Though Satin and Blaze have both had their names called."

"Someone volunteered for them?" I asked looking at the beautiful family as they spoke to Marvel and their tribute relative. It surprised me that someone would even think to volunteer for children of two victors. Cinna nodded, and turned back to working on fixing my unlaced left boot.

I turned to look over at District Four, a young woman stood beside the most well known mentor and victor Finnick Odair. He was the youngest person in history to win the Game, he was also a Capitol favourite and I could see why. His good looks and smile were something I'm sure the Capitol loved a lot. His clothes were expensive and fit snug to his muscled figure, making it more noticeable. If he was the male mentor of the District Four tributes then the woman next to him, with her wild red hair and frightened look in her eyes, must have been his fellow victor, but I wasn't sure as to what her name was.

Before I could look amongst the rest of the victors and tributes, Peeta and I were ushered into the chariot while the prep team fixed every little tiny microscopic thing about us. Soon they left us alone and I was thankful for the reprieve. "What do you think about the fire?" I whispered to Peeta.

"I rip off your cape if you rip off mine."

"Deal." I smiled while resisting of urge to pull him into a kiss right then. By the look on his face he was thinking the same thing. Sometimes I hated keeping secrets. If we weren't in the Games, I'd want the whole world to know that Peeta belonged to me, and I to him.

Soon I could hear the opening music and the massive doors to the streets opened. The well-trained horses would carry us to our prison… I mean temporary home... in order of District. Soon District One's horses began to pull their chariot onto the cement streets. I could hear the cheers as each chariot pulled out onto the streets. It was this moment I started to actually get a good look at the costumes that were designed for this year as their capes had finally come off.

I sometimes considered myself a designer in my own right taking ideas from the chariot costumes of each year. I also kept it secret from others though. I had too much depending on me to tell them about me being a closest designer. If I wasn't on my way to my death I would have been excited to be able to study the designs up close.

If any of the tributes were going to make an impression on the Capitol though, it was going to be the ones from the richest and most privileged District. And District One, the luxury centre of Panem, didn't disappoint. Their chariot was solid white and trimmed in blue with diamonds and colourful gems scattered across the ancient vehicle. The horses pulling the chariot were huge and solid white. Their manes had been braided and fell down on the side visible to the crowd. Their tails were brushed and long, barely touching the ground. I moved my attention further back to the people in the chariot.

The first thought that hit me was that the attire, Marvel and Glimmer were adorned in, was most definitely luxurious. A thick cloak of cascading fur swiped down Marvel's back. With just the cloak I could picture Marvel bathed in riches and honour, it sent a chill down my spine. Despite the cloak's neutral colours of white to black, he still felt menacing to look at. It reminded me that though Marvel was nice to look at, his heart was black, if he even had a heart. I shivered, though I tried to play it off. But if I was being honest, Marvel scared me. He tried to hide his true self behind humour and good looks, but I knew that he had a black soul. He was terrifying and his outfit portrayed that. This was probably because the rest of his glamorous garb was jagged, as if made from the diamonds District One was notable known for.

Arm gauntlets of shining blue were cut from a material I'd never seen before. They looked as hard as stone, probably even able to punch through one with ease. His pants looked extremely uncomfortable, as I assumed they were made from the same material as his gauntlets. Their jagged line at his hip angled up to reveal much of his left hip. Whatever it was with the Capitol and half dressing the District One tributes, I never understood.

And nothing proved this better than Glimmer's half naked appearance. Glimmer's cloak was the first sign, sure it had the thick white fur at the top that Marvel's cloak had but only at her shoulder and the thick black trim at the bottom. In between that was a clear fabric laid with small crystal gems, the fur trim ending just above her knees. And if one wasn't bad enough, her stylist had designed the skirt with yet another layer of the clear fabric, this time flowing to the floor in a flutter of crystals and diamonds.

The dress she wore, if you could really call what she wore a dress, was nothing more than a wrapping of the shining blue material around her body only being held up by unseen cups that clung to her breasts. Though it looked like the right cup wasn't supporting anything and was only there to cover her breast. Unlike the gauntlets worn by Marvel, Glimmer had on clear fingerloop gloves only made noticeable by the fabric of her short cloak. The only pieces of Glimmer's costume that didn't show any skin were her high, coral-like collar and matching lily shaped headdress in her bejewelled, flowing blonde hair. Even her boots, similar to Marvel's, showed skin. They were as blue as with all the other clothing they wore, apart from their expensive furs, and jagged, wrapping slowly up each leg only to stop their ascent just above the knee on one leg and below it on another.

I quickly move my gaze to District Two's stone grey chariot, pulled by similarly coloured horses, as District One pulled out of sight. The horses and chariot were kind of dull and did nothing for me. I couldn't believe the stylist hadn't done better. I was disappointed, but then once the horses hit the light, I saw the specks of glitter and watched as it made the horses shimmer. It was neat and now I knew why the stylist did it. They wanted to surprise everyone, and it actually worked on me.

Both Cato and Clove had their skin spray-painted a light stone grey. It made them look as dull as I thought their chariot and horses had, but with their attitudes and persona, it was hard not look at them. My gaze travelled down their forms, taking in the rest of their outfits. A thick cord matching the colour of their skin was wrapped tight around their waists, highlighting their slim, muscled stomachs and holding up a cloth that covered their private parts. Cato had cloth draped around his chest, hiding his pecks. It trailed over his shoulders to flow down behind him. The breeze from the moving chariot made it flap in the wind. His feet were wrapped in the same material but almost mummy style. Gaps were here and there, showing off his grey skin.

Clove was dressed almost the same, but a slit went up both sides of the cloth hiding her private parts, giving a peek at her upper, outer thigh. I knew she was doing it to draw attention to herself. Between that and the cloth that draped over her shoulders to barely hide her breasts, she was a pleasant sight for the males of the Capitol and all watching back at home. Her feet were wrapped the same way as Cato's which surprised me. I expected her to have heels on. The last thing I noticed about her besides the smirk on her face, was the braid that started on the left side of her temple and ended on the right. It was a brilliant design and one I might ask for in the future. Resting on the braid is a Greek style wreath. I glanced back over at Cato, noticing that he had the same one and I'd missed it before.

It was harder than I thought to peel my eyes away from District Two but I had no choice as their chariot rode out. This did help give me a reason to turn my attention to the tributes from District Three, Sextus and Cida. They were standing upon the digital chariot pulled by two black horses with electric blue lines that shone over their coat. The chariot was... floating. Actually floating above the ground. I found it kind of worked with the simple costumes that Sextus and Cida wore. I actually liked their costumes. They looked like fashionable scientists with square, blue glass monocles covering their right eyes and black, suede flats covering their feet.

Sextus was dressed in a short, thin black unitard covered with flashing green digital coding, his pants falling just down to his knees. Covering the straps of his unitard was a pure white lab coat with short sleeves and long collar that was opened to get the full effect of his clothing underneath. Cida looked like a cute schoolgirl in science class with long pigtails topped with green bows and wearing a short dress that flipped up at the sides to show off her thighs. The dress was barely four inches below her waist and covered with the same digital coding as Sextus's outfit. Far too short for my taste. Her lab coat fell off her shoulders with the long sleeves bunched up at her elbows. What made her look the most like a schoolgirl, almost reminding me of Madge's school clothes, were her long white socks that were at least seven inches above her knees. I'd never seen socks that long and it caused me to laugh.

When I saw District Four, I almost got a chill from just looking at their costumes; armour made entirely of enlarged fish scales that shone when the light touched them. With their chariot built with real crashing ocean water and dark sea-blue horses with manes and tails that looked like water, they appeared to look almost like the merfolk I heard tales of from the fishermen whom I sold meat to in the Hob. The only difference was they had legs instead of tails. Each part of their armour was built from different fish that I would sometimes catch in the forest lake. Their breastplates were made with the silvery blue scales of haddock matching well with their pale skin. Auricula's just barely covered her breast and then did a "v" dive to the top of her navel showing off the middle of her stomach. Wade's completely covered his thin chest with gold trimming the top edge.

The plates of their armoured skirts were comprised of rainbow tuna scales, glistening a different colour each time the light reflected on them. Their arms were covered by gauntlets created with black sea bass scales, pointing sharply at their elbows, giving off, what I thought was, the appearance of a shark fin. The point looked sharp enough to hurt someone, making them look menacing but at the same time fashionable. Their knee high boots were created from salmon scales, with two fin-like attachments on the backs. Strapped to their knee with grey leather were gold, diamond shaped knee plates. Their shoulders were covered with the same material, with chains dangling off Auricula's. She also had a diamond-shaped collar and a blue bubble headdress sat upon her long braided hair. Both ensembles sent a shiver down my spine as they were as menacing looking as District One's jagged clothing.

District Five's golden yellow chariot with spokes carefully place on the frame were pulled obediently along by two shimmering golden yellow horse with specks of silver braided into their long golden white manes. The chariot costumes themselves were skin tight, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. It almost made me blush, but I quickly turned my gaze into one of a designer or critique. The short sleeved, turtle neck outfits were unique to say the least. The male tribute, I think his name was Haynes or Hynes, was dressed in an outfit that was bright yellow with thin blue lines running in all different directions centered from a solid bluish grey orb on his chest. I took the lines to represent electricity and power. The boots on his feet were electric blue, matching the lines. Upon his wrists were bright yellow wrist gauntlets that had the emblem of an atom on the surface of each. His hair was standing straight up almost as if he'd been electrocuted.

Fox's outfit was the complete opposite. Where her fellow tribute was dressed in bright and cheerful colours, hers were dark and mysterious. Black fishnet tights appeared out of her knee high black boots and disappeared under her skirt. Her hair was just as wild as her partner's but black material with grey lines representing static were attached to a headband. Her outfit was made up much of the same black material with swirls of grey and white running throughout the bushy fur of her skirt while the top was tight and strapless. Some of the same busy fur was wrapped around her right upper arm with the swirls of grey and white. The white throughout her outfit looked similar to lightning bolts but weren't as defined. On her hands were black leather gloves sporting the same atom symbol that were on her fellow tribute's gauntlets.

Before their pewter-like silver horses with manes of oil black pulled them onto the asphalt roads in their metallic chariot, I gazed wide eyed at the chariot costumes of District Six. They had a very futuristic feel to them. Thick wool covered the shoulders of the tributes, stopping just at the elbows. They each wore futuristic glass visors over their eyes and a leather collar around their necks; deep red for the male tribute and blue lavender for his partner. The girl's collar looked more feminine as the leather seemed to sparkle to match her outfit. The guy's was more dull, and masculine. A smart play for the stylists.

His thick wool was sewn on the shoulder gathered to make them seem bulkier and sturdier. His chest was covered with a black tee and I assumed the wool was attached to the long sleeved shirt. I liked that his torso and lower arms were just black. I was a little put off with the wool on his legs. They were so thick, it almost made him look like he was wearing a skirt. But it didn't turn me off from the outfit. I think this by far was my favourite. His outfit was complete with a pair of black leggings and boots that met the wool on his thighs.

The female tribute had the wool of her costume sewn to the shoulders of her short dress. The bodice was narrow and tight, pushing up her breasts. It showed off her slim waist line before poofing out around her hips. The same wool trailed behind her and the wind fanned it out much like Cato's cloak. Her arms were also adorned with black material but her legs were bare except for the high heeled boots. The one thing I didn't agree with was letting part of the wire hoop from her dress skirt show. It was extremely noticeable and showed off one of her thighs completely. The longer I stared, the more I noticed that the skirt was kind of cut at an angle. I guess since the designer was going for futuristic, it matched. The crowd didn't seem to mind it, and who was I to judge?

What really gave the costumes the futuristic look to me were the picturesque galaxy scenes covering the wool on their outfits. I assumed it was a Digital Reality Alterer, or DRA, mostly used by Capitol women who were large in size and wanted to appear thin. Basically it projected a clear, crisp picture overtop any surface, in this case wool and fabric. As they moved the galaxy's shimmered and the stars seemed to twinkle. It was beautiful and I was in awe.

Were those even horses? My gaze was drawn toward the things pulling District Seven's tributes. Honestly, to me, it looked like trees with legs. The horses, if they were under there somewhere, were covered in vines that were twisted around and around to form trunks. The bark was a different shade then the tributes costumes, but was unique enough that it didn't matter. The funniest part to me were the brown fluffy, hair-covered feet. The horses feet were humongous and their feet were no different. One wrong step and you could lose a toe… or a foot. I winced just thinking about it. But part of me was curious to see if the horses were fluffy all over or it was just their feet. Next my eyes fell on the chariot as I realized that I needed to quit looking at the horses lest I miss the tributes.

The chariot was almost as unbelievable as the horses. Wild vines wrapped around the dark wooden frame tighter and tighter to look like more trunks had been used to make the old chariot. Leaves could even been seen at the top of the chariot, as if it was a tree itself. I was caught so much in the look of the chariot and horses that I almost didn't see the very costumes I wanted to look at, and they were amazing. They reminded me of maple trees and the sweet sap that flowed from them. As the wind blew past them, it brought with it the sickly sweet scent of maple syrup. It made me think of pancakes and waffles; two delicacies I'd never had the chance of exploring until just recently. I shook my head to clear those thoughts and got back to studying their outfits.

Female tribute's first.

Now her outfit was both modest and revealing. While it covered most of her skin, it also revealed some with her see through skirt. The darker material that made up her bodice and part of her skirt was dark enough not to reveal anything. It even had lighter lines to make it actually look like bark. But as the material lightened around the edges of her poofy skirt, it became light enough to see through. But luckily she'd donned dark brown leggings to match the colour of her bodice. But the dark brown was only up around her thighs.

As the leggings went down they became the lighter reddish orange tones before disappearing into her dark orange bootlets. Her hands were each fitted with the lighter coloured fabric and were thick enough to cover her whole wrist and standing a good three inches off of her skin. To top off her outfit, a headdress of branches and the dark orange material sat high on her hair. Her hair was tangled in the branches and wrapped around the orange material. It was both neat but unruly at the same time.

The guy's costume had the same material around his wrists like his partner's did. To me it looked like he'd punched through a basketball and it then got stuck on his wrists. The mental image caused me to snicker and Peeta to glance over at me. I smiled at him and acted like nothing happened as I went back to taking his outfit in. The top was designed like a turtle neck and was the colour of liquid gold. It slowly darkened as it went to his shoulders and down the tops of his arms.

The fabric wasn't cut neatly, but instead looked like it was wet and running down his arms. His chest was reddish orange and looked like sap. It again was edged roughly like the sap was running down from his shoulders. His pants were edged around his top and made it look like one whole unitard if you weren't looking closely. The pants matched the female tribute's bodice and had lighter lines to make it look like rings on top of a tree stump. His boots covered part of his pants as they stopped just below his knees. They were the colour of the liquid gold up around his neck and added just enough colour to the brown pants. My eyes raked back up his outfit to his head. Around his head was a hollow tree stump the same colour as his pants. It was like a crown to symbolize his future win, though it was impossible to tell who would really win the Games.

District Eight's costumes always looked odd to me and this year's was no different. Their horses were once a beautiful light brown colour until the stylists had inked spiralling designs of pale yellow, light blue and faded green onto their wonderful coats. I had to admit that the story the designs told was bold. It spoke of the fighting and war that devastated the world and led to the districts. The way it was woven onto the horse's coat spoke of reverence toward the fighting, something the Capitol looked down on. I wondered if anyone would notice. The chariot was beautiful with swirling designs painted on top of off white paint. If you looked hard enough, the designs told a similar story to the one inked onto the horses. I didn't have time to study it, and tore my gaze away to admire the strange outfits of the tributes. They stood upon it, both had flowing capes of... tapestries? I thought at first that I was going crazy from the scent of District Seven's costumes still in my nose but I wasn't. The stylists for District Eight this year had dressed poor their tributes in capes of tapestries spread to over half their own heights. As the chariot moved they flapped in the wind almost as if they were dying to tell their own story and get the attention they needed.

And if that wasn't bad enough they're skin had been adorned with intricate black tattoos that looked like flowers. The tattoos were inked onto their necks, wrists, and ankles, leaving their feet bare besides the intricate ink. I almost winced at the sight. Part of me hoped that those weren't real. I couldn't imagine getting inked myself, especially in those tender areas. It gave them almost a Gothic feel that was counteracted with the bright gaudy tapestry cloaks.

At least their stylists had the decency to dress them in non revealing clothing. The guy's tight black pants were trimmed at the bottom with fancy black lace. The girl's tight black crop top and similar coloured shorts let all her natural curves show. The lace of her tight clothing was trimmed on the top and bottom of both her top and shorts. Her orange hair was shaped and moulded into a bow on the back of her head. Black lace wrapped around the center and dangled down behind her, fanning out as the wind blew past them.

The black lace guided my eyes to District Nine's chariot with stocks of golden wheat placed seamlessly onto the frame, their tops swayed from the breeze as the beautiful blonde horses pulled the chariot. Their manes and tails had been brushed long to sway with the wheat of the chariot. Now if any word could be used to describe the style of District Nine's chariot outfits that word would mostly definitely be Ancient Greek. Yeah I know that's two words, but that was what described their chariot costumes. The male tribute wore a short tunic around his waist with a line of braided rope slung over his shoulder and attached to the tunic almost seamlessly. Specks of gold, pale brown, and pale yellow spotted the bottom of his tunic, fading into white as the specks climbed the tunic. By the time they reached his waist the specks were gone and only the white of the fabric and rope remained.

Two thick gold necklaces, one layered on top of the other, hung around his neck. They had the same speckled design as the bottom of his tunic, only this was far more pronounced with the colours bold and sharp as the colours layered. The long cuffs over his wrists, and the layered plates strapped to his feet, ending with thick diamond plates, were similar in design and colours to his necklaces.

His partner's short but flowy tunic was not so different than his. Her tunic has the same specks that faded into the white of her tunic as they climbed up. Although her tunic was held up by pale brown rope sewn to the top it. Her jewellery was the same. Half inch heels that had a sheet of the plating over her boots and end with no diamond. Resting in her Greek styled hair was a simple Greek wreath made of nine stocks of wheat. Resting on the male tribute's head was a similar wreath matching the wheat inspired tunics, footwear and jewellery.

If District Nine's one word was Ancient Greek than District Ten's was... cows. Of course District Ten was always dressed in some livestock inspired getup; last year it was sheep. Oh sure the small 13 year old, female tribute looked adorable in her fluffy wool clad outfit, but dress a fully grown 19 year old guy in wool and ram horns and it's almost comical. Funny thing was he was the victor of last year. Maybe the Capitol just liked sheep?

The horses just matched perfectly. They were brown and white and looked like dalmatians. It was quite comical how perfectly they matched. One top of their heads were horns where their ears should be. I almost felt bad for the creatures until I saw one twitch and realized the horns were their ears. I smiled and shook my head. My sight ended with their braided tails before raising an eyebrow at the chariot that followed the horses.

I wanted to cover my eyes. What were they thinking? The chariot looked like a giant bull. The stylists for District Ten needed to retire. I mean the chariot even had a bull head and the Tributes were seated on its back. They each sat on one side of the giant bull and held on by holding onto the horns attached to the bull head. I laughed out loud as I saw the chariot even had a tail… And it moved! After all that, I couldn't wait to see what the tributes were wearing. I turned my attention to them. It was funny how different the costumes were from the horses and chariot. I almost felt sorry for the tributes.

This year the outfits weren't comical except of course for the huge and probably extremely heavy bull and cow horns atop the heads of Canwarn and his fellow tribute. Added with the tails made of whips glued to their bottoms and they were a sight to see. Okay I lied, they were comical, but if you removed those comical bits, the rest of the outfits weren't so bad.

Canwarn wore, what I think the Capitol referred to as, a short sleeved bolero jacket. Basically it was a jacket of black and white leather that was opened wide to display the chest of Spanish bull fighters; which was where it originally came from. His arms, from wrist to just below his elbow, and waist were bound with more light brown whips. I was surprised the poor guy was able to breath, but it looked like he managed it some how. Underneath his whip wrapped waist and dark brown leather boots were a pair of simple tan brown leather pants that looked much more loose than the whips round his waist.

The girl was dressed in a matching attire to Canwarn. Her bolero jacket of white and brown leather barely covered her chest leaving me afraid she might accidentally flash the crowd if she wasn't careful. Her whip bound arms and waist were a darker shade of brown than Canwarn's, possibly to match her jacket. Her skirt sloped down her body, starting just above her left knee and ending above her right, dark brown, leather boots which matched Canwarn's perfectly. Her hair was in a ponytail with a small cut of yet another whip wrapped three times around the ends.

I watched as District Eleven's deep mauve horses trotted into place and let Thresh and Rue onto their leaf covered chariot of golden red. When his cape came off, Thresh almost blended in with the leaves. His right shoulder was covered with autumn coloured leaves of oranges, deep reds, crisp browns, and golden yellows. Along his arm and neck he sported realistic leaf tattoos with orange ink. An arm gauntlet of even more leaves rested on his left arm. His pants were also made of the foliage and they wrapped down his legs, cut open in places to show off more of the orange tattoos of leaves on his upper calves and knees. The pants even trailed around his boots like a snake made of leaves. Upon his head was a crown of more autumn leaves.

Rue's costume was oddly different then Thresh, instead of being covered with leaves, she was cover with white calla lilies, probably due to her last name being Calla. Her short, wide dress was littered with the sweet smelling flowers, and they traveled up her chest to her high collar and stopped in a small bouquet atop of her frizzy black hair. Her white half inch heels, which stopped 4 four inches above her ankles were also lavished with the flowers. A bracelet of lilies on her wrists was the last thing I noticed before the horses pulled them out on the road. I was glad that they hadn't made her costume revealing. Rue was still a child and one of the youngest in the competition.

As the mauve horses pull the chariot carrying Thresh and Rue away, I see Cinna appear behind me with a lighted torch and with a smooth motion he set our capes on fire. "It works," he sighed. That made me nervous. Did he think it wouldn't work? I swallowed hard, trying to fight my nerves. I could feel a tingle on the back of my neck. "Remember heads high, they'll love you." Before he climbed down I caught his ear and whispered in it. I hoped I was doing the right thing by telling him my secret. He smiled as we pulled out and shouted something I couldn't hear.

"What did he say?" I asked turning to Peeta, whose ears were far sharper than mine. I gasped at how amazing he looked with the fake flames.

"He said to hold hands," Peeta whispered.

I smiled. "Love to." I took his left hand in my right just as our coal-furred horses pull us through the tunnel and into the screaming crowds of Capitol citizens.


	5. Chapter 5

**Welcome the Fifth** **Chapter of the Untold Hunger Games. As usual here's the disclaimer; I don't own the Hunger Games or any of it's characters. Now that is done, please leave a comment, question and/or review. I'll even pm you back or address it in the chapter after the one you commented and/or reviewed :3**

 **This chapter is going to continue the chariot ride and shows District Thirteen's which the design I based it off can be found in the links on my profile page.**

 **Also I hope you all like District Thirteen's escort :3**

 **Now without farther ado let's move to Chapter Five.**

* * *

The world seemed to blur from the blinding light of the cameras as they all pointed towards us. I was amazed by how much the Capitol seemed to be mesmerized by the flames blazing behind our coal black chariot. I could hear them all shouting out, "District Twelve! District Twelve!"

When I looked up at the screens plastered with the faces of Peeta and I, I understood why they were so captivated by us. My skin almost seemed to glow in the light of the flames, with the help of the light silver dust Flavius had lightly dusted all over my skin. Peeta obviously had the same treatment done to his skin, as it glowed almost as brightly as mine did. We looked like the world was lit by just the power of our flames, and in my eyes, our love.

I quickly dropped the startled look on my face and changed it into one of pride. I was proud of the costume I wore. I grabbed Peeta's hand and raised it up in the air between us. The crowd wouldn't see it as a sign of our desire, but as a sign of unity. We were a team until the Games. The boy and girl on fire! It was something I hoped they never forgot. I for sure wouldn't.

When the images of me and Peeta left the screen I saw the tributes of District Thirteen, having almost completely forgotten about them. I look back at their shining black chariot with bubbles of light purple on top. Its oil black horses pulled them along. They were only distinguishable from my horses by the strands of golden hair in their long brushed manes and tails, they even had flecks of gold dotting the line of their manes and where their tails started. I noticed that even rings around their eyes were painted gold, making their eyes look fierce as the light hit it. I felt so sorry for Diane and Trevor, kind of terrible actually for upstaging their oddly creative costumes. District Thirteen supplied oil like my district supplied coal but I found the dark fabric of their main outfits with their bubble trim and shining light purple accessories was quite funky to look at.

Trevor actually looked good in his outfit. A long reverse tail coat of a shining black material was trimmed along the top half with a frilly light purple fabric that shone dark on the inlaid. A sash of the same material wrapped twice around his waist and a long piece of it hung from the top. Underneath the tail coat Trevor wore high pants of a lighter, brighter colour than the coat above. Wrapped round his wrists was a fabric similar to his stash, it bunching up as the fabric came down to the top of his hand. Covering over his feet were a pair of shining light purple boots that pointed at the sides of his legs and in front of his toes.

Diane's costume was similar, but also different at the same time. The shining black material that made up the majority of Trevor's costume only made an appearance in an oval on her stomach. The rest of her dress was the light color of Trevor's pants. The dress itself looked like it was floating on a sea of bubbles. The bubbles made up the bottom and moved up toward Diane's thighs. I liked the gloves that were on her hands. They matched the exact color of the bubbles and seemed like they'd pop if she clapped her hands together. Another large bubble lay atop her long curled blonde hair. A black ribbon was tied to the bottom of the giant bubble and lay just above her ear. The ribbon was long enough to dangle over her shoulder and down her open back. Literally the whole back of the dress was gone except for where the fabric covered her butt. I had no idea how the front sleeves were staying up, but it was a miracle they were. Her shoes matched Trevor's except Diane had heeled ankle boots instead of full ones. A black ribbon was attached at the top of her foot and against her ankle, a good contrast to the purple boots.

I felt even worse now that I'd seen more of their outfits. I'd upstaged them so much today. First the reaping, now the chariot. I bet they wouldn't least two minutes in the arena thanks to me.

Suddenly the sound of the crowds' cheers turned my head away from District Thirteen. They were crying my name, "Katniss! Katniss!"

I watched as someone threw me a healthy red rose. I caught it, breathed in its scent and blew a kiss to the unknown thrower. The very action sent the crowd into a state of comical chaos as hands from every male in the crowd reached up to try and grab the kiss I had blown to them. The shouting of my name grew louder and more audible, "KATNISS! KATNISS!"

I blushed a vibrant red at their cries. Every man in the crowd, and even some of the women, wanted my kisses. It was so odd for me because I knew the person they belonged to. And he was standing beside me, blowing his own kisses to the squealing Capitol women in the stands and balconies around us. When he looked at me, squeezing our connected hands tightly, I knew that he thought the same about his kisses belonging to me. If I didn't want to keep our relationship a secret, I would have kissed him right there and then. Wonder what the Capitol would think of that? Butterflies flooded my stomach as I almost said screw it and kissed him anyway. It was only him turning his attention back to the screaming crowd that kept me from following through with my thoughts.

"Don't let go," he whispered to me, clasping my hand even tighter as we lowered them back down to our sides. "Never let go."

I looked into his blue eyes as the fake flames glistened off of them. "Never," I replied just as our horses pulled into their spot in the City Circle, right in front of President Snow's own mansion.

The very man himself walked out onto the balcony, his ghostly white hair and thick beard glistening in the moonlight. He was old, almost seventy-five, which was hinted in his voice as he spoke strong and clearly, "Tributes! We welcome you to the Capitol!" The cameras flashed quickly through the other tributes, but stopped on us as he spoke. "For the next three days you will live in this shining city! The building to my right," he said as he motioned to the thirteen story high Tribute Centre. The cameras all took a moment to show more of Peeta and I before showing shots of the Center. He continued, "will be your home for those days! Good luck during the Games and may the odds be ever in your favour!" He finished and the horses pulled the chariots into the tall doors of the Training Center.

As I stepped off the chariot I could see and feel the glares of the other tributes while we were flooded with praise from our prep teams. Cinna quickly removed our capes holding them with black gloves whilst Portia extinguished them with some kind of clear foam from a spray can. My hand hadn't let go of Peeta's the entire time we stood in the large high ceiled room until we were ushered towards the elevator by Effie Trinket. She told us happily that it would transport us to our floor; the twelfth.

I slowly relaxed my hand as Effie Trinket, Haymitch, Cinna, and Portia walked into the elevator with us. Only Peeta wasn't about to let my hand go. He continued to hold it, massaging my palm secretly and calmly with his thumb.

"You should wear flames more often," he whispered into my ear so no one would hear. "They suit you." His comment and warm hand soothed me as the elevator climbed its way up.

"You two are lucky." Effie Trinket told us as she fixed her askewed wig. "You'll be staying in the penthouse suit. With perfect access to the roof." Her sudden sigh made me think that we actually weren't all that lucky. "Sadly, you'll have to share the floor with District Thirteen, though their victors are not too dull to talk to." I think she was trying to praise them, course I wasn't all that sure.

"Effie?" I looked out at the city below as I asked Effie Trinket a question that had just entered my thoughts. "Why do Districts Twelve and Thirteen share a floor?"

Effie Trinket turned around and said with an overly bright smile, "Well when District Thirteen was first founded it was a three years before the first Quarter Quell, and as you know each Quarter Quell has had a new tribute center built specially for that year." I nodded blankly, the Quarter Quell happened every 25 years each with a twist to the Games written on cards by President Johan Glass, the founder of the Hunger Games. A card would be pulled out of a small box three years before the Games and they would be planned for accordingly. And of course they kept the twist in the dark until the day before the Quarter Quell Reaping.

During the Quarter Quell Effie Trinket was talking about, every person in the District had to vote which children would be sent to the arena. I looked out the window again to see where the newest Quarter Quell Tribute Center stood, almost complete for next year, the Fourth Quarter Quell and 100th annual Hunger Games.

Effie Trinket's next words knocked me out of my thoughts. "Well the Capitol had put a lot of the Hunger Games budget into building the Tribute Center, leaving just enough to build new arenas, chariots and costumes for the next three years. So the Capitol had no money left to renovate this building to make room for District Thirteen."

I thought it was odd that that was the case, the Capitol almost worshipped the Games, they were the highlight of the Capitol citizens' year. "So how were they able to renovate the top floor?"

"Well," Effie Trinket looked me in the eyes, "They used money given to them from District Thirteen's overseers. Under the condition that they not touch the first or second floors. This was a problem because no other mentor wanted their floor to be ruined by renovations, except for-"

"Except for Victoria Lexington. She was the one who suggested District Thirteen's rooms be built on the twelfth floor," Haymitch said, interrupting Effie Trinket's bubbling voice. My escort gave him a glare and a hissed "Yes" before letting him finish the story. "She thought it would be a good idea as the Capitol decided that the victors, or victor is this case, would mentor the District Thirteen tributes until their own tribute was crowned. Victoria was actually one of the best mentors back then, almost every tribute from District Twelve survived until the last day. Course no one won until me but it's still an achievement. She probably believed she could help District Thirteen get a victor sooner than any other District, excluding the Career districts." The elevator soon slowed. "So the floor was renovated and never changed even after District Thirteen got its first victor."

"Probably because the Capitol was so use to it." Effie Trinket added and smiled at us, "In fact you'll see exactly what it looked like back then."

As if hearing her words the elevator stopped and opened its second doors to a large, high ceilinged room with grey marbled walls and polished marble blue floors. It was all amazing to look at and almost took my breath away in awe. In front of us was a large, curved black couch with soft pillows on each side sitting atop a soft shag purple rug. A table made of hexagons of different heights were placed in front of the couch with two hexagonal side tables on the sides. Odd lamps, that looked like the eyes of a fly, were placed on the side tables. In front of the couch was a ceiling high, black stone feature. I found it odd that there was no tv screen or projector anywhere in sight.

To the sides of this stone feature were large windows with seat of soft light blue. In the corners were reversed shaped lamps that let light shine into the dark corners. Three odd marble columns on each side of the living room, with glass walls and a square fountain of vertical lights laid in between each column, separated the living room from the rest on the two identical dining rooms.

Effie Trinket led us to the dining room on our right and stopped. I took in the room, letting my eyes scan it slowly as to not miss anything. There seemed to be twenty different lamps hanging down from long silver rods to light up the table. Around it were eight seats that reminded me of yellowish-green caterpillars. They were shaped funny and even looked like they could get up and walk away from the table. I smirked at that thought, imagining it happening. I'd enjoy the look of horror on Effie Trinket's face if it did. That's for sure.

I noticed next that the table was dining set for eight people, each one had a plate, a bowl sitting on top of it, and three odd shaped glasses. A napkin lay to the right and had silverware on it. I moved past the dining room table and the blue marbled floor to look at the glass behind it. There was a long section of lavender stained glass that covered the back top of the wall, leaving only a small section to the left that was stained blue. I walked over and touched the glass, finding that water ran down it and ended up in a built-in stone area. The water in the bottom was then transferred up the side and then spread out to run down the glass again. It was amazing. The wall to the far left was made up of the same blue glass and I was sure had water running down it also.

Effie Trinket's smile still blinded me as she stated, "Everything from these columns on is all yours. You'll have to share the living room with the people from District Thirteen but don't worry," she leaned in and said in a hushed voice, "they usually have wonderful manners."

I wondered why she spoke so quietly, but soon I discovered why as an the elevator on the other side of the living room could be heard opening. Effie Trinket smiled and in a sing song voice said, "Time to meet the neighbors." She hurried to greet the District Thirteen team, her hand fluttering at her side as she walked. I followed with Peeta and Haymitch as Portia and Cinna went to their rooms.

Just as we turned the corner, we were greeted by the sight of Effie Trinket kissing cheeks with a tall blonde man. At least I think he was a man. His whole look and the way he stood were kind of misleading. His blonde hair was flipped up and shaved at the sides to give his hair a fuller look. His ears were each pierced with three shimmering gold hooped earrings and dangling magenta pink ones. His eyebrows were either dyed or fake as they were longer than any eyebrow I'd seen before and were as magenta pink as his earrings.

His lavender eye shadow and long black eyelashes, overpowering his light brown eyes, didn't help with making him look anymore like a guy. The lavender purple lipstick that covered his top lip was almost distracting in its intensity.

He wore the most outrageous outfit. A buttoned, short-sleeved shirt of multi-colours opened to show his midriff. He had a collar of gold on one side and striped gold and white on the other. Magenta buttons with golden trimmed holes trailed down his top while the main colours, with one half light red-violet and the other half striped with more light red-violet and dark purple made the buttons stand out. His pants were a normal dark purple, at least they would be normal without the sash hanging over his hip that faded from lavender to light red-violet to magenta and was tucked into the shimmering gold 6 inch platform heels he wore.

To top his whole look off he had an arm band inlaid with gold with more gold diamonds on a piece of dark purple fabric that covered his lower arm. On his right was a band of six differently sized golden bands. The gold belt with a magenta pink buckle and long magenta pink fingernails finished off his outrageous look.

"Wonderful to see you again, Jerikan," Effie Trinket said in her usual cheerful voice.

Suddenly Effie Trinket's own bubbly voice came out of Jerikan's mouth in a flamboyant but in a masculine tone, "Effie, darling. You look as fabulous as ever my dear. Is that a new wig? I didn't see it before. It looks perfectly stunning on you."

Effie Trinket blushed and waved her hand dramatically. "Oh Jerikan you are such a flatterer."

Jerikan laughed lightly and turned to Haymitch, "Mitchie!" He flounced over to where we were frozen in shock and gave Haymitch a hug, almost lifting him off the ground. He was surprisingly strong or someone wearing platform heels, "I missed you so." He kissed Haymitch's cheeks, which Haymitch quickly wiped away with a look of disgust. "What _have_ you been up to?" he asked him, with a look that made me really think this guy was not just feminine and flamboyant in looks alone.

"Jerikan," Haymitch grunted as he pulled himself out of the overly feminine man's clutches. "I've told you time and again, I don't do hugs."

Jerikan pouted his pristine lips and fixed his gaze on us, well Peeta to be exact. "And who is this gorgeous diamond?" he asked strutting over to Peeta. "You are quite the stunning young man. Are you available?" he moved up close to Peeta, who was frozen and looked like he had no clue what to do or say. Jerikan whispered, well thought he whispered, "Because I am." He chuckled in a feminine way as he placed his manicured hand gracefully touching his own powdered cheek. "I'm just teasing, sweetheart."

Peeta's tension went away, albeit very slowly, as Jerikan extended his manicured hand to us, "Jerikan Dashton, escort of those wonderful tributes other there." He pointed his finger to Diane and Trevor who looked at us with forced smiles, still wearing their costumes like Peeta and I were.

Peeta took Jerikan's hand and introduced me and himself, "I'm Peeta Mellark, and this is Katniss Everdeen." His voice shook a bit as he spoke, "It's nice to meet you Jerikan." Honestly, I think Peeta was in shock, as I was still recovering from the looks alone of Jerikan.

Jerikan gave us a shimmering smile. "Charmed, Peeta darling. And Katniss," his eyes started to shine with tears, "I was so," he sniffed a bit, "moved by what you did for your sister. I hope you do well in the arena dear. Just not as good as my dear tributes here."

Speaking of his dear tributes, I walked over to them and extended my hand to Diane, "Hi, I'm Katniss."

Diane smiled and was about to reach for my hand when Trevor stopped her. "Don't be nice to us," he spat, his eyes glared at me. "Just because we have to live on the same floor doesn't mean we have to be nice. We're here to kill each other, not to get along like we're old pals."

"Trevor!" Jerikan exclaimed in a higher pitch than his voice had been so far. "That is no way to behave. Go and get yourself cleaned up in your room," he ordered. "And you can stay there until you've developed some manners."

Trevor growled a bit before storming off to the area to the left of the columns. When he was gone Jerikan looked at me with apology written on unblemished face. "I'm so sorry for that, he really is a sweet boy."

"Well, I'm sure he means well." Effie Trinket stated, pursing her lips slightly, "I..." she trailed off a bit almost losing her train of thought until it came back to her. "I think it would be a wonderful idea it you both go and freshen up in your rooms too. They're marked with your names as they were on the train."

Peeta and I didn't argue with Effie Trinket and headed to the right of the columns and down a hallway pasted the raised dining room. The continuing marble of the hallway was lined was modern sculptures and art, making me feel like I was in a five-star hotel Madge would talk about staying in when she was younger. As a member of Mayor Undersee's family she would sometimes accompany him on week long business trips to the Capitol, at least until she turned twelve and was too old to come with her mother and father every time they'd leave. But she would always tell me and Gale of the places she stayed in, and this penthouse was a lot like the places she's talk about.

When I found my door I turned around to look at Peeta, but found that he had already gone inside. I felt almost disappointed but decided there was a good reason not to linger in the hallway with each other as Effie Trinket seemed like the kind of person who'd interrupt romantic moments like that.

I pressed my hand to a pad on the side of the large sliding door, walking in once it opened for me. Once again I was in awe. I stood in a spacious brightly lit lounge area with a thick navy blue stripe running along the top and bottom edges of the floor and ceiling. A small, curved black sofa, much like the one in the living room sat with its edge almost touching the walls. It was accented with two plush, cylinder pillows of navy blue on the furthest corner from where I stood. A round navy blue and marble grey table sat in the center of the lounging area. In the corner, behind the sofa was an odd looking cactus, with three spokes forming it. I thought it looked odd, but the oddest thing was what I saw on the wall opposite the couch.

Installed into the wall was a roaring gas fireplace, only this fire was different than the one we had at home. Not only did the fire burn neon blue, but when I touched my hand to the glass I felt, not heat coming from it, but a chill. The fireplace was not only for warming you up, but also for keeping you cool. It was a marvel I was sure the people in the Capitol took for granted.

I looked past this area and walked into a small hallway which lead to the bedroom, a large closet, and a sliding bathroom door. I decided to wait until after a nice warm shower before exploring the rest of my chambers.

I placed my hand on the pad beside the door to the bathroom and stepped in. It was almost three times the size of the bathroom on the train. The sink counter was white with an oddly shaped sink in the center. It had a small round glass bowl with a transparent flat faucet that I had no clue how to turn on has it had no valves or handles of any kind. It sat on a square shaped black stand with curved edges. I ran my hand over the sweet lilies adorning the counter in clear vases filled half way up with different sized stones.

The toilet was odd, almost making me want to stay clear from it. It gave off a smell of lavender and had a panel of buttons on the side. I was not planning on trying any of the buttons out while I was here.

The large shower, on the other hand, was something I would definitely not be afraid to try out. I was looking forward to getting in it. It was the size of my room back home, with more buttons than the one on the train. Each with different options to regulate water temperature and pressure, dispense soaps, shampoos, conditioners and oils, controlled robotic hands that massaged sponges with your dispense selection and even buttons to change the smell of the water.

I took a few minutes to set a preferred water temperature and pressure, the type of body wash, shampoo and conditioner I liked, what speed and size I'd prefer the massaging sponges to be at and the smell of the water I prefer; forest pine with a hint of fresh mint.

Once done I stepped into the shower to rid my hair and body of whatever my prep team had covered them with. After soaking in the shower for a good quarter of an hour, wasted water didn't seem to be a problem in the Capitol, I stepped onto the mat on the floor to dry my body. Once dry I leaned my hands onto the sink to look at my reflection, and suddenly a current of refreshingly hot air ran through my hands and into my hair. Drying and untangling it until the strands of my hair were perfectly dry and fell in small waves down my back. I looked down at the counter, stunned. Looking for what I had touched, I found that I had rested my hands on two sensor pads on opposite sides of the sink. It obviously was made to dry your hair with one hand while you did makeup with the other. If I even wore makeup.

I pulled on a light robe from the hanger near the shower and after setting my costume on the counter I left the bathroom to pick out an outfit to wear. I found this to be easier than I thought. The closest I had seen wasn't a walk in one like I had originally thought, but actually a computer operated one. I stood in front of the glass window which was slightly tilted with a screen. It asked simple questions about what I liked and soon sent a simple outfit rolling toward me.

It was perfect, as if I had picked it out myself. A loose sunset yellow shirt with simple, light brown pants that flowed loosely passed my ankles. The footwear were flat dark brown shoes which I slipped on with the rest of the outfit before entering the bedroom.

I stepped in to find that the metal chiffon yellow bed, covered with plush blue covers and pillows of golden yellow and blue, was sunken into the floor. I climbed down the three six inch steps and sat down, running my hand over the soft covers. My eyes pulled away from the soft bed at look around the rest of the room, three metal statues spiralling up to the ceiling stood against the wall opposite a window that made up half of it. A cylinder pillow of spotted black and yellow lay on the long, low window sill.

Two high tables with curving legs were covered with flowers vases and trays of sweets. Above them were dozens of small mirrors glued together to make a larger one. I found the hanging black lamps above my new bed to be rather charming, in a Gothic kind of way.

I was about to raise from my bed before I noticed a thin curved silver and black remote sitting beside me. I picked up the remote and ran my finger over it. In front of me the Capitol night scene dissolved and a busy morning street appeared. I smirked at how ridiculous the people looked, their outfits were over the top and… was that a man with elongated ears? I rolled my eyes. Yes, definitely ridiculous.

I continued to roll my finger over the remote watching more scenes of the Capitol flash past until a new image appeared. A lake with fishing boats and the sounds of water flowing into my ears and seagulls cawing. I felt like I was there on the dock looking out at the water.

I realized where this scene was taken in; District Four. I continued rolling my finger over the remote to see more scenes. The manmade forests of District Seven, the fields of livestock from District Ten, the wheat and cotton fields District Nine was surrounded by and the sweet smelling orchards of District Eleven. I knew what these images were probably for. The Capitol must like watching weaker tributes break down and cry with scenes of home before them. And I didn't think it would work, until the next image appeared and made my own heart almost break.

In front of me was the forest just outside my District. I felt like falling to the ground, curling up into a ball, and letting the tears stream, but I knew that was just what the Capitol wanted. They wanted to see me break and I wouldn't let them. I suddenly heard a knock at the door and quickly pressed the off button on the remote, the forest soon dissolving back into the view of the night touched Capitol.

"Yes," I called out in a loud, calm voice.

"Dinnertime." Effie Trinket's voice called back from the hallway. _Good I'm starving_. I thought to myself.

* * *

I walked up the stairs to the dining room to see Peeta sitting in a chair beside Cinna. Portia, Effie and Haymitch were already seated as well. I guessed they were waiting for me before they started dinner. I sat beside Peeta and watched as he fiddled with a simple chained locket around his neck. I smiled at this act.

I had given Peeta the locket after our first year of dating. It cost me three days of hunting twice as much game as I usually got and gathering more than three times the amount of plants. But to me it was worth it seeing as he hadn't taken it off since. I knew he'd probably ask to wear it in the arena as a token from our District, just like the mockingjay pin that still clung to my shirt.

I was soon presented with a crystal glass of wine and, with Effie Trinket's approval, politely accepted it. I took a sip of the rich, bitter liquid and watched as five silent people in white tunics laid dinner out in front of us upon the table.

While the adults talked about the opening ceremonies I was more interested in the dinner of thick mushroom soup, with fresh mushrooms, garden salad covered with diced tomatoes and crunchy vegetables, pink roast beef sliced paper thin, cheese that melted in my mouth, and fruits so sweet my tongue still tasted their flavours even after I finished eating them.

The servers made sure our glasses are always full and there was plenty of food on our plates. My mind started to feel the effects of the wine after three glasses. When I was offered more I turned it down politely and asked for some water instead. The server returned to pour sparkling clear water into my empty wine glass. It was so cold I felt a shiver go down my spine.

In front of me a female server set down a large dark blue cake and set it aflame. "How does it do that?" I asked politely, but the woman didn't answer; which I found was oddly strange, until Effie Trinket explained why.

"She can't answer you," my escort said taking a sip of her wine. "She's an Avox."

"What an Avox?" I asked Effie Trinket curiously, causing her to give me a sceptical look. _She did realize I wasn't from the Capitol right?_

"An Avox is a criminal who has had their tongue cut out and you shouldn't talk to them unless you're giving an order." Effie Trinket exclaimed promptly, before popping a particularly juicy blueberry into her mouth.

"Oh," I said calmly feeling sorry for the woman. It must have hurt more than anything I had ever experienced.

"Alcohol is what makes it flame up, but there's none left on the actual cake. It's used to caramelize the top and tastes quite good. I had it brought up to celebrate your fiery entrance," Cinna explained with a smile. I couldn't wait to taste it, my mouth watering at the thought of the delicious treat. They handed me a piece after cutting into the cake and I dug in. He was right about the cake tasting good; the caramelized top and creamy filling complemented each other so well.

After the cake was devoured, we headed into the sitting room with the District Thirteen team, who had just finished their own dinner, to watch the opening ceremonies on the large projection screen that played upon the stone feature in front of us. The screen soon lit up with the faces of the tributes from the other Districts but none of them compared to Peeta and myself, not even Diane or Trevor. We lit up the night in our fiery costumes. I smiled at Cinna and Portia who were both, at the moment, quite proud with themselves, receiving patting on the back from one of District Thirteen's stylist Aziza Okeke. Her partner, Tiberius Anklos, was quiet but smiled politely at his fellow stylists. I heard the commentators making remarks on the hand-holding and I blushed slightly as Haymitch asked whose idea it was.

"Cinna's," Peeta answered simply.

"Nice touch." He smiled as the screen faded to black with the Panem flag as the final image. Haymitch got up and tilted his head for us to follow him, which we did, stopping on our side of the floor.

"Alright, meet me here bright and early before Training starts," he told us before walking away. I'd expected for him to say more, and his abrupt disappearance left me scrambling to catch up. Effie Trinket followed him. Portia walked to the elevator with Aziza and Tiberius but Cinna stayed behind.

"Do you mind if I talk to you both on the balcony?" he asked us calmly, his voice sounding a little serious as he looked at us. Peeta and I both nodded and followed him toward the open terrace. He closed the glass doors behind us and glanced around, as if not wanting to be overheard. After awhile he gave us both an expression of worry that became etched across his face. As his brow furrowed, less and less of the sparkling eyeliner showed. "So, has Katniss told you what she told me before you left the Remake Center?" he asked Peeta.

Peeta glanced at Cinna then to me and back to Cinna before shaking his head. Cinna sighed at his response. "I guess I wouldn't either. Telling someone that you are in a relationship with a person you're meant killing in a few short days, is knowledge that no one sane would want to hear. And as far as I could tell, especially by the tone in her voice, she most certainly would like this knowledge kept secret for others. Now I'm only going to say this once." Peeta grabbed my hand tightly as Cinna paused. A moment of doubt crept into me. Had I made a mistake confiding in him? Were Peeta and I about to pay the price? I held my breath as I waited for him to continue. "I want you both to try and act as friends for now. If you do this I'll keep your secret, and the Capitol won't hear a thing from me."

Peeta was tense but I could feel his body relax when Cinna give us his compromise. "We will. Thank you," he said, squeezing my hand lightly.

"I have secrets of my own I'd like to keep hidden so you can trust me with yours. Now I know I speak for all three of us when I say that we need sleep. Go to your rooms and I'll see you tomorrow night at dinner." We both nodded and walked back towards our rooms; Cinna smiled at us once more before turning towards the elevator.

"He's right, we should get some sleep," Peeta whispered taking my hand and guiding me back to my door, before leaving he glanced around to make sure no one could see us and kissed me gently. I leaned into him, ready to deepen the kiss, but he pulled back.

"I love you," I said quietly. He only smiled. Pain lashed through me. That wasn't the Peeta I loved, that Peeta always said it back. What was happening? Was he already pulling away from me? Was this an act? He started to leave, but I grabbed his arm. He turned, looking at my hand on his wrist before his eyes met mine questioningly.

"Yes?" His voice had almost none of that light and warmth I adored so much.

"Are we okay?" I asked, moving closer to him, cupping his face as I moved my hand from his wrist.

"Yea?" he asked, seeming confused.

"I feel like you're pulling away from me. Something has to be wrong," I pressed. "Did I do something?"

"This day has been a lot to take in. I'm just tired," Peeta smiled down at me. "You did nothing wrong." He leaned down and captured my lips, his hands sliding down my back to land on my hips. This kiss was much better than the first, but still I sensed something was happening between us. Something I didn't like. He pulled away again and this time I let him. I waved to his back as I watched him walk down the hallway. I moved backwards, leaning on my door. I sighed, probing the door for the knob. I felt like an idiot as I realized the door didn't have a knob. I must have been more tired than I thought. I pressed my palm to the pad to release the door and stepped in. I heard the whoosh as the door closed back behind me. Moving almost on autopilot, I went through the motions getting ready for bed.

I was so tired, but not too tired to take another shower, besides I couldn't fight the pull to take one tonight. I took off my clothes, leaving them in a heap on the floor and walked towards the bathroom. The door moved as I approached and slid shut as I entered.

I turned the shower on and I stepped under the spray, the day's events flooded into my mind. A morning of hunting with Gale, the peace and tranquility I felt made it all seem like a dream. I remembered the Reaping, my sister's name being called and the action I took that brought me here in her place. My meeting with Cinna and the flaming chariot ride that almost stopped my heart. But the one that stuck out the most was when Peeta had said goodnight. What had happened today that had put this canyon between us? We'd always been so open with each other. But part of me wondered if maybe it was a good thing. The Games were going to rip us apart. And only one of us could live. Resolve stole through me. I'd get Peeta through till the end. Then I'd find a way to make him the winner. I couldn't bear to lose him. No matter what. Peeta had to win. I had to tell Haymitch. He had to promise me that Peeta would be the one to live.

My resolve soon escaped me as I felt sleep drift into my eyes. Tomorrow, I'd beg for Haymitch's promise to keep Peeta alive. Tonight I would sleep in the comfy bed. I stepped out of the shower to dry my body and hair before wrapping myself in the comfy housecoat. I stepped out of the bathroom and skipped to the bed, jumping on it, feeling the satin covers as they settled over me and helped soothe me to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Welcome the Sixth** **Chapter of the Untold Hunger Games. As usual here's the disclaimer; I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. Now that is done, please leave a comment, question and/or review. I'll even pm you back or address it in the chapter after the one you commented and/or reviewed :3**

 **Now without farther ado let's move to Chapter Six.**

* * *

I couldn't sleep. Even the imitated sounds of the soothing District Twelve forest couldn't help calm my tense nerves. I took a brief glance at the sleek black clock, its large digital numbers told me it was 5:36 in the morning. Haymitch would probably not want to talk with Peeta and me until about an hour or two before training, and if I remembered correctly, that training began at 10:00 am which was almost four and a half hours away.

After a dozen more tries to fall asleep, I regretfully tore myself from my extremely comfortable bed and pulled my tired body towards the door to Peeta's room. I placed my hand on the pad and dragged my feet past the soft powdered blue sitting area and into the bedroom.

Peeta was nowhere insight and the door to his bathroom was closed. _Where could he be?_ I thought to myself as I walked, more awake this time, out of his room and looked about the hallway of doors to the bedrooms. A bright light in the right corner of my sight made me turn my head to see a brightly lit staircase at the end of the hallway.

 _This_ must lead to the roof, I thought cautiously as my slipper clad feet pulled my body towards and up the marble stairs. When I reached the top, my breath was taken away by the beautiful sight I beheld.

The city filled the sky with dim but wondrous lights. They were nothing like the stars I could always see in the clear sky back home, but I guess the lights here obscured them from view. Nonetheless, the monumental buildings with their brightly lit walls and streets below were amazing. I felt as if I was looking at a whole new world, a view that was even more amazing than the one from the balcony or the glass elevator. A deep and oddly content sigh escaped my lips as I leaned on the railing staring out at the view before me.

"Enjoying the view?" A soft familiar voice asked as strong arms wrapped around me and a familiar sweet scent gently filled my nose, "Don't lean over too much or you'll get zapped." Peeta's words tickled my ears.

"Really?" I whispered back with a slight smile on my lips. "Why's that?"

Peeta moved away from me and I could hear him picking up a stone before he threw it beyond the railing. The stone was soon zapped by a strong electric field. "There's an invisible electric fence around the whole building, well except the ground floor."

I turned around and looked at him. "Guess they don't want to take any chances with any of us escaping."

Peeta nodded as a smiled formed on his lips and he grabbed my hand. "Follow me."

I was to stunned by the surprise of him grabbing my hand not to follow my tall love towards a large greenhouse with millions of wind chimes blowing their tinkling sounds into my ears. I looked about, pulling my hand away to touch the chimes and turned to look at Peeta with a smile. "Why here?" I asked in a soft voice.

"Because the chimes are so loud that no one can hear us in here," he mused before moving to pull me into a rough almost frightened kiss. It was passionate, far more passionate than the one we had shared hours ago. When we breathlessly pulled away from each other I looked at him stunned and panting softly.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel like I was distancing myself from you," he whispered as he pulled me into a tight, but gentle hug. "I'm terrified I might lose you in the next few days and I guess I let that fear show as me becoming distant."

I touched his cheek gently, my vulnerability flowing out of me, something that always seemed to happen when I was alone with Peeta.

"I've only been here for a few hours and I already feel like I'm living a lie," he whispered as his hand moved to cover mine. "I don't think I can handle this for three more days."

Suddenly a gust of chilling wind whipped through my hair, and chilled my barely covered arms and legs. I shivered slightly. "Here." Peeta quickly pulled off the thick bathrobe he wore and draped it over my shoulders. "I don't want you to get cold."

My eyes traveled up and down his body, noting his loose gray shirt hanging over sweats of my favourite colour; dark forrest green. His socks were thick and woolen. I now realized that unlike Peeta, I was barely dressed, having only put on a thin fabric nightgown of sunset orange - Peeta's favourite colour - before going to find him. "Thank you. I guess you're better prepared than me, for once," I teased, slyly hinting at the time I tried to have him come hunting with me. Which was more disastrous than teaching Prim to hunt.

Not only did he come with just a carving knife, but he also wore the loudest boots in all of Panem, scaring away every game in sight. I gave up on him only an hour later with no game to show for that time. Peeta may have been a strong guy but he was clumsy and as loud as a herd of stampeding elk.

"One point to me," Peeta teased back as he lean back on the bench, his eyes looking up at the ceiling. "Did you get to talk with your mother and Prim before you left?" he asked me suddenly, following with a soft sigh.

I nodded my answer, whispering, "Yes, I also saw Gale, Madge and even my grandmother."

Peeta turned his head to me with an interested gaze. "That old bat went to see you?" My nod prompted him to ask, "What did she say?"

My smirk grew on my lips. "That I'm not allowed to die, that I have to come back home no matter what." I laughed and turned my eyes to the ground. "Like she can control my fate in this thing."

"My mom seems to think you can win this," Peeta's muttering words astounded me.

"How do you know that?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly as I voiced the question.

Peeta's face now had an expression of defeat. "She said to me that District Twelve would finally have a victor... Because _she's_ a survivor. She not he." His voice was filled with sadness and his head dropped.

"Peeta..." I began, but my voice was enough to make him look up. He smiled at me and took my hand. Then something caught his eye.

"Look." He pointed towards the outside of the greenhouse. A sliver of golden yellow light shone off the dome of the roof. It was beautiful, more so than any ray of light I had seen in my life.

"The sunrise," I exclaimed as I rose and ran to the railing, leaning against it once more to watch the colours of the sky fade slowly into mixture of blues, yellows, oranges, reds and purples. I smiled in the golden light turning to look at Peeta. "I think you can handle this, as long you remember what's waiting for you outside the arena."

"The only thing waiting for me outside the arena was a life without you." Peeta's comment made tears well up into my eyes. I pulled the robe over the tops of our heads and kissed him one last time on the roof. There was something magical about kissing him in the rays of the sunrise and I knew that magic would have to end soon.

* * *

It was almost 7:30 am by the time Peeta and I made our slow descent down the stairs, our fingers laced together. The steps we took to our rooms were even slower than the ones down the stairs, but I could tell that like me, Peeta wanted to spend as much of the precious time we had left together. It took a great deal of strength to pull away from each other when we stopped in front of my room and even more for me to leave his side.

Peeta's eyes were soft as he whispered in his soothing voice, "I'll see you at breakfast." And with a last peck on the cheek he walked to his room. I was lost in my thoughts as I entered my room, forgetting once again that there was no doorknob, and walked straight for the bathroom. I stepped straight into the shower and let the soothing water calm my nerves and wandering thoughts about Peeta. Of course those thoughts were soon replaced by ones about the training that was just a few hours or so away.

Was I prepared for this, the time when I would actually have to show my skills, even in practice, to the Gamemakers and more importantly my fellow tributes?

I shook my head roughly, splashing the sides with water. Of course I was, in fact I was really anxious to get down to the training and showing off my abilities to the stuck up tributes from One, Two and Four. Picturing them all scowling at my skills made my body tingle, though that might have been from the body wash I was using.

Once I stepped out of the shower, letting the mat dry off my body, I turned to face the mirror, pressing the pad that dried and unmatted my unruly hair.

As I looked in the mirror, something hanging from the hook near the door caught my eye. I turned around to get a better look and discovered it was a cotton fiber uniform with leather black boots on a stool underneath. I stepped towards it and felt the cloth with my fingers, thinking about where it had come from. My first and only thought was Cinna. He was my stylist after all, and he was the only person, besides me, who was allowed to choose what I wore during my days here.

I smiled to myself as I thought of Cinna's reaction to discovering mine and Peeta's secret, pulling on my uniform as I did. He had been so kind and concerned about it. It made me think that he was more unlike the people in Capitol than I initially believed. Most Capitol residents would go running to the nearest official and blurt out our secret to the entire city, but not Cinna. I shook my head, of course he was a citizen of the Capitol. The gamemakers wouldn't allow someone of non-Capitol citizenship even near the Games. In fact the only people like that in the Capitol were the Peacekeepers assigned to the rich city.

I flipped my hair behind my shoulders and turned my attention to my uniform. It was pure black, from head to toe, the only thing that wasn't in black were the white block number twelves sewn tightly onto my shoulders and back, as if they would fall off them if I wasn't careful. Like I was that strong, though it may also be to insure they aren't torn or ripped off by the weapons we'd be training with.

When Effie Trinket's annoying rapping at my door echoed in my ears, I hurriedly tied up the laces of my boots and pulled my hair into my favourite single braid. Before leaving I caught my reflection in the mirror. I felt like tears were welling up in my eyes. I saw the real me again in the mirror, the Katniss from District Twelve, and not Katniss the 74th Hunger Games tribute and the Girl on Fire.

I took in a deep breath. The real me was going down to the training arena, and would show the other tributes just what Katniss Everdeen from District Twelve could do. Of course if Haymitch was okay it, which I doubted he cared.

I took another look at my reflection for a quick inspection to make sure Effie Trinket didn't send me back in because my face wasn't clean enough. Once I decided my face was clean, even to pass an Effie Trinket approval, I made my way out of my room and towards the gleaming steps of the District Twelve dining area.

The unique table was bare of food and people except for Peeta who was sitting quietly, calmly eating his meal, in the exact same outfit as me. The Capitol must prefer their tributes to dress in similar training uniforms. I wouldn't even be surprised if the female tribute from last year wore this uniform too. I cringed at the thought and looked around for where Peeta had found the food.

My eyes stopped on the far side of the platform where a long and narrow, glass table stood on winding limbs with a crimson tablecloth spread neatly upon it. I gulped and held back the impulse to lick my lips in hunger, as the elegant tabletop had more than twenty dishes lined out, all for our pleasure of eating.

A man in a red uniform with heavy black eyeliner and lipstick stood beside the table, expressionless and attentive. I immediately realized that he was an Avox, though his uniform and heavy makeup were different from the ones last night. Another question I would differently ask Haymitch, or maybe Effie Trinket.

When I reached the table he stepped forward to prepare a plate for me but I stopped him. "If it's okay," I started reaching out gently to grab the plate from him, "I'd like to serve myself."

The man looked a bit relieved at my question and nodded, returning to his post as expressionlessly as when I walked onto the platform.

I looked at the food and then at the plate in my hand. If I was going to try everything here, I would definitely need to return for seconds. With that thought in mind, I loaded my plate up with all that I could. Delicately seasoned, poached eggs, crisp brown sausages, juicy lean bacon, thinly sliced fruits with small chunks of cheese, and several bread roll which I had spread thickly with flavoured butter. The butter flavour was hard to decide on since there were forty flavours but I settled on the oddly brown coloured apple butter. Back home, hardly anyone could afford butter, let alone imagine having flavoured butter.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. I wasn't at home anymore. I was going to live to the fullest since my death could happen three days from now.

I set my food next to Peeta and turned my attention to the brown liquid he was drinking as steam flowed from the top of it.

"What's that?" I asked, before taking a bite of the apple buttered rolls. Not bad, I thought, taking another quick bite.

Peeta looked up at me from his meal and smiled. "They call it hot chocolate. It's powder, sweetened chocolate with water and milk. Here," he handed me the mug of the brown liquid, "It's really good."

I took a slow sip and the sweetest taste flowed into my mouth. Wow, that's good. You rarely saw chocolate in District Twelve, only the rare rich families of my District ever had such sweet food and I had never heard of any of them making drinks with it. My grandma was one of the people in District Twelve who ate this expensive food but she never wasted it. She did however give me and Primrose a thin piece of the sweet food for our birthdays.

Before I looked around to find a cup to drink from myself, the Avox from the serving table was at my side with a mug of the hot liquid. I looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you. You didn't have to get it for me though."

The man smiled a little before turning back to return to his post by the table. I watched him leave and grimaced a little, which of course, Peeta had seen.

"You okay Katniss? You don't like it like do you?" he asked, obviously talking about the hot chocolate and not the real thing running through my brain.

I shook my head to answer him, "No, it's really good." I handed him back his mug and looked back at the Avox. "It's just. The Capitol even treats its own citizens like it does the rest of Panem; cruelly. And if they make a mistake, they're punished severely for it."

Peeta looked down at the mug I returned to him, a solemn expression on his face. "We can't just assume that all Capitol people get special treatment. The only ones they even let us see are the ones who live in the centre of the Capitol. We didn't know how they treat the ones outside that radius. They could be just as miserable as we are in Districts."

"Peeta's right," Cinna said, his voice surprising them as he ascended the staircase. He walked over to us and leaned against the wall behind our chairs. "The Capitol's just as diverse as the entire nation is." He leaned forward and said in a lower voice, "I'll show you." He walked back the way he came, to the balcony we had stood on last night. Peeta and I exchanged looks and soon followed behind my stylist.

Cinna was leaning against the railing of the balcony when we arrived. "What do see when you look off this balcony?" He asked us, not turning around at all.

Peeta stepped forward and looked out at the Capitol covered in the light of new dawn. It took him a few seconds to answer Cinna's question. "I see the Capitol, shining and gleaming like I've seen during every Hunger Games I've been alive to see."

"Maybe you do, but when I look I see a divided city." Peeta and I looked at Cinna, confusion still on our faces. Cinna smiled and stated, "The Capitol is divided into eight blocks just Panem is divided into thirteen district. Where we are now is the City Centre. The Minister, Capitol officials, Hunger Games sponsors, they live the buildings around us, then you have the next six blocks all surrounding the centre. I am from there," he pointed to the north west of the centre, "Designer's Block. Every stylist, designer, hairdresser so on and so forth live there."

Cinna looked at the block next to Designer's Block and went on the name the other seven blocks, "There's Cutlery Block, Peacekeeper Quarters, Education Block, Health Block, and Entertainment Block, most people who are making a living on the Hunger Games live there."

I looked out past this block to see a small building with smoke rising from it. "What's that block?" I asked looking back at Cinna, only to find his eyes narrowing.

"That's the outer block, it's where the citizens of the Capitol who do minimal jobs live. A lot of Avoxes come from the outer block. It runs all around the parameter of the Capitol and it's the worst place in the Capitol to live. Though it's not as bad as living in the Districts," He stated and looked behind him to sigh, "Did you want something Effie?"

I turned around quickly to see Effie Trinket standing behind us, her lips pursed. "My tributes' breakfast is getting cold, Cinna. Are you planning to give them a lesson on Capitol geology all day?"

Cinna shook his head and turned to us, "Effie's right, you two should go eat before your breakfast gets cold, you'll both need the energy for today."

Peeta and I nodded at the same time and walked back to the dining area together.

Much to Effie Trinket's delight, our food wasn't cold since most of the food the Capitol served was so hot it took an hour or so to actually get cold. She did scold us for leaving it alone and uneaten. "Food is important for your bodies to grow strong and health, my darlings. If you don't eat it than how will you show off your wonderful skills to the Gamemakers today?"

"They won't be," Haymitch's voice interjected as he appeared next to her with a bowl full of thick hot beef stew with three bread rolls beside it.

Effie Trinket lifted an eyebrow and turned all the way in her chair to face Haymitch. "And why ever not?"

Haymitch bit into a big chunk of one of his rolls and proceeded to talk, spitting food in Effie Trinket's, by accident I'm sure. "They should save their talents for when they're put into individual assessment with the Gamemakers."

"And what if their talents are terrible?" Effie Trinket suggested. "They need to practice in order to-"

"Why don't we ask them what they can do then Effie," Haymitch interrupted and looked at us as she pursed her lips again. "What skills have you two got? I know you've got good aim," he said looking calmly at me, as he twirled his fork in his hand, "What else can you do?"

I shrugged, stating modestly, "I'm pretty good with a bow and arrow."

"You're more than good. She can shoot any animal in the eye, I've even seen her take down a deer with one shot." I blushed at Peeta's compliments.

I smirked and quickly complimented him, "Well you can lift a hundred pound flour sack like it's the lightest thing in the world and you can wrestle. Second place over all… after your brother," I muttered, thinking about how that same brother, Rye Mellark, didn't even try to volunteer for his little brother. I shook my head of the thought and smirked, "Just add a knife to the equation and you can kill anyone in hand to hand combat."

Peeta blushed. "Well maybe but I can't trap, make fires or fish."

I tilted my head before nodding in agreement. "That's true, you're clumsy and you make more noise than a herd of elk."

Haymitch stopped our baltering before we got worse, or sillier. "That says it all then, you too will learn small things during the next three days. Tie knots, makes fires, learn how to climb trees and throw spears and knives. We want to surprise the Gamemakers when your meet them individually."

The two of us nodded in understanding and began to continue before Haymitch added, "Stay by each other's side every minute you're together in training. Ok? The tributes may not care about you being close but the Gamemakers will and everyone in the Capitol loves an instant ally pairing."

We nodded once again, both more than happy to stay with each but something about Haymitch's words got to me. I shook my head. It didn't matter, right now Peeta and I would get through this together.


	7. Chapter 7

**Welcome the Seventh Chapter of the Untold Hunger Games. As usual here's the disclaimer; I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. Now that is done, please leave a comment, question and/or review. I'll even pm you back or address it in the chapter after the one you commented and/or reviewed :3**

 **Now without farther ado let's move to Chapter Seven.**

* * *

The rest of breakfast Haymitch continued to go over what we were going to need to do during training. It was an extensive list and I don't think I remembered much of it. By the time he was done, Effie Trinket had us up out of our seats and rushing to the elevator, claiming we were going to be late if we didn't hurry along. In our haste I watched Jerikan rushing get Diane and Trevor to the elevator. They were both sporting matching black uniforms with gold trim and white number thirteens sewn to their uniforms' shoulders and backs.

Effie Trinket pushed me into the elevator, causing me to trip and crash into Diane.

Diane looked so nervous it was hard not to move the few steps it would take to stand by her side and help her calm her nerves. She looked like a scared little mouse her head moving this way and that. I had seen Prim acting the same way just before we had to leave for the Reaping yesterday morning. A flash of pain filled me as I thought of my sister and how nervous she probably was for me. I pushed it to the back of my mind, knowing now wasn't the time to dwell on such thoughts. I turned my attention to Diane's partner.

Trevor on the other hand stood tall and stoic. He looked so much different than he had at his reaping. If I hadn't known any better I would swear he was a Career tribute. His aloofness and extreme calm were more than even I could manage, but probably not that hard for a Career to handle pulling off.

The elevator didn't take long to reach the underground floor of the Training Center, opening to a long room with long metal tables and benches spaced around it. I could tell what this was without Effie Trinket having to explain me. It was obviously the dining hall for the tributes and probably the place we'd have to wait in for our individual time with the Gamemakers.

Effie Trinket and Jerikan walked us to a sliding, grated, metal door that opened to the gymnasium where the training we'd be doing would commence. It was huge and filled with stations of all sizes and racks with an assort of metal weapons. I walked towards a circular platform where the other 20 tributes stood waiting in their colourful uniforms all bearing the number of their districts on their shoulders and backs.

I looked at the tributes surrounding me and grimaced. Almost all of them, except for the five or six of the younger tributes, were are taller than me. Even Peeta was a few inches taller than my height. The Careers not only had height on me but they were more built and well fed compared to any of the other tributes. Even the giant of an eighteen year old from District eleven, Thresh Gunthorn, had not nearly as healthy a build as the Career boys and even the girls. But I wasn't really surprised, since they had been training since they could walk.

But I had something I knew no one else had; real world practice. I knew how to build traps, make fires and snare prey better than them, I was sure. I was also quick on my feet and just as silent. My father had taught me how to hunt for survival not just for killing, and that would be my advantage in the arena.

Once all of us had arrived in the large gymnasium, thirty-five men and women all wearing black uniforms trimmed with white, filed into the area with ten peacekeepers following them. Above us, I could see and hear the richly dressed Gamemakers pouring into the seating comfortably furnished viewing platform with a long table covered with extravagant meals and pitchers of, what I assumed to be, rich wines.

So the people who put us here were going to watch us even before the individual sessions. Wish I could knock all of them off their high horses right now. Unfortunately my plans for teaching the Gamemakers a lesson was interrupted by the voice of a tall, dark skinned woman. Her large eyes looked at all of us as her black ponytail swung when she moved.

"In one week twenty-five of you will be dead." She said in a strong voice. Well she certainly was one of those get to the point people. "Only one of you will come out of this alive. Who that person is will depend on which of you pays attention for the next three days. I'm Atala Blackstone, head trainer and though my job is to make sure you all know the necessary skills to make it through the next few days I will most likely fail half of you. But only if you don't do exactly what myself and the other trainers teach you."

She looked us all sharply in the eyes before continuing, "There are only two rules I expect you all to follow. One: no fighting with the other tributes. You'll have plenty of time for that in the Arena. If you do decide to fight with them, the Peacekeepers are here and will make sure you are punished for breaking this rule."

I looked at the Peacekeepers, gulping a bit. I certainly did not want to know what the punishment was. "I will inform you that all the trainers, including myself, are trained Peacekeepers."

She stopped at that, but it wasn't like we needed any incentive to listen to her. "The second rule is that all of you must complete the four compulsory exercises: The gauntlets, the rope course, basic combat, and basic survival. Each one is marked with a green strip by their station. After you have completed each one you will be allowed to begin individual lessons. My advice is not to ignore the survival skills. Everybody wants to grab a weapon, but most of you will die from natural causes. 10% from infection, 20% from dehydration, 5% from lack of food, and 15% from the elements. Exposure can kill as easily as your fellow tributes can."

Atala then spent the next ten minutes reading out the lists of stations the training center had to offer, each one was listed under a category with a different coloured strip for each one. Green for compulsory exercises, blue for survival skills, purple for ranged weapons, red for melee weapons, black for hand to hand combat, white for weights and yellow for sprinting and terrain maneuvering. I knew from what Haymitch had told us that Peeta and I would be training at the blue, and maybe the yellow, stations for the next three days.

"Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour," Atala finished. A tall male trainer instructed us to form a line in front of the gauntlets for the first compulsory exercise.

And by god it was brutal. The gauntlets were a series of three daunting obstacle courses, probably designed to help tributes prepare for different terrains. To start we had to jump from raised platforms as quickly as we could and to make it difficult, the trainers swung padded clubs at us. If you made it past that, you had to get through the next part, where you had to move from metal twisted bars while dangling 15 feet off the ground. It was a terrible fall even with the padded ground. In fact one tribute, Cruis from District 8, fell so hard that he sprained his knee. He had to be given a knee brace to wear for the rest of the day.

That part wasn't even the most dangerous part of the course, that part belonged to the end were you had to climb fifteen more feet vertically into the air and then climb straight down once we reached the other side. Thankfully the climb down was on a bit of an angle so it wasn't as dangerous as the climb up but I had to admit, when my turn came up, I almost slipped twice on my way up and three times on my way down. The Capitol had always been a stickler for realism.

Once Peeta and I finished the first compulsory exercise, we made our way over to the blue stations. Starting with knot tying. It wasn't too hard, well for me anyway. The knots the trainer instructed us in how to make were simple like square and figure eight knots, nothing all that complicated to do. Peeta and I didn't spend long there once we had both mastered the basic knots in under forty five minutes. I had figured that Peeta would have a bit more trouble than me learning some of this, but so far he was a quick learner.

We spent the next hour and fifteen minutes until lunch learning how to start fires and make decent shelters out of common materials found in forests and mountain terrains. Despite Haymitch's suggestion, Peeta and I did try to show off a little but I don't think the Gamemakers really cared that our shelter could withstand a large wind or that we made fires in only half the time our trainer did.

Still the Gamemakers paid extremely close attention to us, constantly looking our way whenever the Careers weren't doing something skillful. It creeped me out how tentatively they watched us. Even during lunch when the trainers were readying for the next five hours of training, they were speaking to the trainers we spent our first three hours with.

I watched them as closely as they had us while I ate calmly beside Peeta at one of the long metal tables. I eventually got bored of looking at them and gazed around at the rest of the tributes.

Like me and Peeta, most of them sat with their fellow tribute eating the meat filled sandwiches and leafy green salads with baskets of bread rolls. The only tribute not eating with people from just their districts were the Careers and oddly enough Setus from District Three. I looked to see that his fellow tribute, Cida was sitting with Gunnar and Eunia from District Seven.

Peeta looked up from his sandwich and whispered into my ear when he saw me looking at this odd sight. "Haymitch told me while you were getting more food at breakfast, that lunch is when you see who's allied themselves with who. Bet by the third day there will be a lot more mismatches at the tables."

I smiled, turning my eyes to look at him, almost forgetting that we were in public as the need to kiss him hit me hard in that moment. Peeta cleared his throat as he decided to change the conversation as he quizzed me on where each bread roll came from.

"That one comes from Four right?" I asked as he held up a fish shaped loaf tinted green from flicks of seaweed baked into it.

Peeta nodded. "Yep, you can also find them with chunks of fish too, but it doesn't look like the Capitol added those to the basket." He muttered to himself as he picked up a crescent moon roll dotted with seeds. "Where's this from?"

"District Eleven. The seeds are the give away for that one." Peeta laughed and then held up a roll of rye bread with chunks of meat noticeable through the crust.

"That's from Ten, and they seem to have more meat than bread in their rolls," I joked, my laughing echoing and receiving looks from the other tributes. However, my light laugh died quickly when Peeta picked up an ugly looking drop biscuit.

A lump came to my throat. "That's from home," I said as my eyes teared over the roll. I wiped them quickly from my eyes and sat straight. This was just another of the Capitol's tricks to make the tributes miss home and they weren't getting another tear from me.

Peeta stopped with that one, setting the bread back down in the basket and touching my hand lightly, his eyes looked into mine to show that he was sorry for making me cry even for a split second. I shook my head at his unspoken words.

"I'm fine Peeta. We should finish eating." I grabbed my sandwich and started chewing to refrain from saying anymore.

* * *

"Everyone please line up by the Rope Course!" Atala's loud voice called out as we all shuffled back into the training centre. She was standing in front of a course that was set up exactly where the gauntlets had been not one hour ago. I had to look up to see the sheer magnitude of the rope course. Ten large beams pointed toward the ceiling of the centre; each were 30 feet high with three platforms at different heights. Every platform was connected by thick rope ladders that looked like tree branches when you looked straight up at them.

The course was designed for climbing trees and maneuvering through the treetops. I was already pretty skilled at climbing trees so this course didn't faze me. I climbed up the rope course all the way to the top and looked down from the platform at the other tributes, trainers, and the Gamemakers. I wasn't the only tribute to make it this high, a few of the Careers tried to but they could only get to the middle height before falling onto one of the safety nets below the course. Peeta had almost made it has high as I got but he lost his grip on the fourth top ladder and fell onto the netting.

The only other tributes that were able to climb to where I was were the young but agile Rue and the stoic faced Eunia. This wasn't a surprise, seeing as they were both from districts were tree climbing was almost genetic. The male tributes from Eleven and Seven, Thresh and Gunnar, had both almost reached the top, climbing higher than the Careers and even Peeta, but Gunnar lost his footing on the third to last ladder and Thresh fell off in the middle of climbing the last ladder.

After an hour of watching the other 21 tributes fail climbing all the way to the top, Rue, Eunia and myself were instructed to climb down one at a time. Eunia went down first, seeing as she had climbed up the course the quickest and would be able to climb down faster than myself or Rue. I went down next, watching my footing as I climbed, so I didn't trip or knock Eunia off the ladder.

Now I'm not sure how it happened or when, but I do remember that one second Rue was beginning her climb down the rope ladder and the next she was dangling from it by the hand, crying out in fear. I looked down and saw why. There was no net under her. The image of Rue, falling to her death, made adrenaline rush through my body. I almost felt like I flew up the ladder, my eyes fixed on the dangling Rue. I knew if I didn't get there in time she would most certainly fall to her death. It was only seconds but those seconds felt like hours. My hand reached out, grabbing Rue's wrist and pulled her up to the platform above us just in time. Any longer and I knew she would have lost her grip.

Both of us were panting from the experience. Unable to talk. We both looked down as we heard the trainers rushing about, they were being yelled at by several Gamemakers for not having better safety equipment in place for the course. As we watched them, I heard a slight, hoarse sounding coming from Rue. She was laughing, weakly at first but eventually it was loud and clear. I joined her a few seconds later.

I wasn't really sure if she was laughing at the people below us or if she was trying to calm herself down from the ordeal but whatever the reason, we were laughing, and still laughing as a trainer came up to get us off the platform. He was on a weird kind of elevator, with glass fencing around a third of the platform. He told us that for our own safety we were to take the elevator down with him. Rue and I weakly got up and stepped onto the elevator.

The ride down was slow, to ensure no one fell off the platform. As the trainer busily talked with an unseen person on an earpiece, Rue and I were silent. Well, that is until Rue looked at me and asked calmly, "Can I… can I spend the rest of the day with you?" Her words were a little stuttered at start, but I assumed that was from the recent ordeal.

My answer was simple. "Of course you can."

From that point on Rue followed Peeta and I around wherever we went. I noticed, as we went through the blue striped stations and a few of the easier purple, red and yellow stations, that Rue had similar skills to those I possessed.

She was quick and agile. When we tried some of the yellow stations Rue would beat or almost beat me in the sprinting courses and when faced with terrain courses she was able to maneuver through all plausible terrains, except snow. Rue had found that terrain challenging.

She had good aim. She wanted to try some knife throwing an hour after practicing snaring the rabbits, squirrels, and hares the Capital used for the snaring station. I tried not to show off at that station; calculating my throws so that I never hit any of the desired targets. Rue however held nothing back, aiming and throwing the daggers at many of the fake vital organs on the dummy. I was impressed with her and when I asked her where she had learned that she gave me an interesting answer.

"When you're little in my district you're not allowed to work in the orchards but moms still bring their kids out. To keep busy we throw rocks at fruit to see if we can make them fall. I guess it's not the same as a rock, but I know how to throw things at something to hit where I want it to," she explained, grabbing another dagger and throwing it at the stomach area.

I smiled, surprise and amusement on my face. "All that from throwing rocks at fruit?"

Rue grinned at me.

After we did about a half hour of knife throwing, I discovered the third skill that Rue and I both possessed. Her knowledge of plants. She passed the test on edible, medicinal and toxic plants with almost a perfect score; similar to the scoring I received.

I guess it wasn't surprising though. Rue came from Eleven, whose main industry was agriculture. Anyone who's been harvesting or has family members who harvest plants most of their life would know the difference between a blueberry and a nightshade berry.

Me, I learned my most of my plant knowledge from my mother and the rest I learned from my dad.

Peeta and I decided to try a more simple red station after that. Peeta thought that training with clubs would be safe enough for us to try so we did. Rue however wanted to try more ranged weapons and left towards the purple stations. While I was waiting in line, I heard a ruckus from beside me. Cato, the frightening male tribute for Two, was yelling at Jason, District Six's male tribute.

He was complaining that Jason had stolen his knife; like it really mattered since it wasn't like he had gotten it from the sponsors. It wasn't long before the confrontation got louder and Cato began to shove Jason into the terrain station blocks he had been sitting on.

Soon everyone was watching from Gamemakers to the other tributes, it got so bad that the Peacekeepers had to break the two of them apart. I was honestly surprised they let it go that long, but the Gamemakers loved a good fight scene. As the Peacekeepers pulled Cato away to a room in the back I heard a soft sound coming from above me. A slight smile crossed my face.

There was Rue laying in netting that held out the smaller climbing course, almost fifteen feet in the air. She looked down at the two boys holding Cato's knife in her hands. I looked over at Thresh, Rue's fellow tribute and found him looking up where Rue lay as well, smirking and shaking his head at her. I looked at the floor, still smiling. I was glad that the experience from before hadn't stopped her from climbing again. A sudden whistle sounded in my ears, I turned my head, my thoughts interrupted.

Atala called out the tributes, telling them to go back to their stations as Cato threatened Jason that he would kill him in the arena; that he would be the first to die. He then added that he didn't know who he was messing with.

Peeta whispered into my ear, "Focus on the training stations Katniss. Ignore those idiots," he told me. I nodded, returning to watch for my turn.

After that incident the trainers had us finish our final stations for the day - which for me and Peeta was the clubs - and return back to our floors for dinner and sleep.

I sighed when I saw Effie Trinket waiting for us by one of the two glass elevators. "Come, come now dears, dinner is ready for you both."


	8. Chapter 8

**Welcome the Eighth Chapter of the Untold Hunger Games. Yes I'm still alive and still writing. I'm not giving up on this story, but it will take me quite a bit longer to finish it again so don't give up on reading it I promise it will be good :"3**

 **As usual here's the disclaimer; I don't own the Hunger Games or any of its characters. Now that is done, please leave a comment, question and/or review. I'll even pm you back or address it in the chapter after the one you commented and/or reviewed :"3**

 **Now without farther ado let's move to Chapter Eight.**

* * *

Effie Trinket stood beside the elevator tapping her foot impatiently. "Hurry, hurry, I wish to have dinner before midnight!" she exclaimed in her annoying Capitol accent. I rolled my eyes at her, wondering could Effie Trinket be any more bubbly? Even when impatient the woman could sound cheerful, it made me feel downright nauseous.

Just as we were about it step into the elevator a male voice called out, " _Mon chéri_."

The three of us turned to see a handsome man standing before us. He looked out of place in the room, not only because he was obviously not from the Capitol but because he wasn't a noticeable member of the Tribute Centre staff, an escort, or a Gamemaker. The reason I knew was by his appearance.

For one thing, he wore expensive, but not Capitol expensive, clothes. They were casual looking with neutral colours. His white shirt was opened slightly around the neck, covered by a deep grey, conservative style jacket. He wore comfortable black slacks with dark black boots. His clothing was something a Capitol men wouldn't be caught dead in.

His hair also set him apart from Capitol men; it was a natural dark brown, that appeared as if he had woken up with the style. It was natural like the rest of his look. His stubbled chin also had a natural feel to it.

No, this man was not from the Capitol. In fact, I would have mistaken him for a victor if he hadn't spoken a foreign language. French I think, though I didn't know since it was the only other language I'd heard in my life, seeing as I hid from a few Eastern Canadians on my hunting trips. At least the one with special permission from the Capitol to hunt in the forest outside District Twelve. French was one of the most common languages in the country.

Effie Trinket waved to him before turning to us. "Go on up dears I'll be there in a while for dinner." Peeta and I looked surprised by Effie Trinket's odd change of attitude.

"You want us to go up… Alone?" Peeta asked, his bewilderment evident in his tone.

Effie Trinket nodded as absentmindedly as a schoolgirl in love. "Yes, yes," she told us waving her hand like we were dogs to shoo away. "Haymitch will meet you in the lounging room. I'll be up in a while!" She smiled, walking towards the man.

Peeta and I stepped onto the elevator watching the two just as the man kissed a blushing Effie Trinket's hand. Peeta and I both burst into laughter, as the doors closed, unable to hold the impulse in any longer.

"I never thought that Effie would have someone like that in her life." Peeta chuckled looking at me with a smile. "I would have thought that Effie would be with a flamboyant, Capitol man. Who do you think he is?"

I thought about the question and shrugged, "I'm not sure but I think Haymitch might know who he is. He's known Effie for five years after all."

I then glanced down at the people below, my smile disappearing. They were celebrating the beginning of the newest Hunger Games by watching reruns of the Reaping and Chariot Rides, as well as recaps of older games with Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith commentating everything, "Do they wish we were dead?" I asked Peeta, who was now standing behind me with his arms around my waist. I leaned into his embrace, his warmth giving me strength and comfort.

"I don't think they want all of us dead," Peeta whispered into my ear. I thought for a minute. Maybe he was right, after all, why have a victor if they wanted all of us dead? Why not line up 26 random people and kill them?

I looked over at Peeta, calmly asking him what he thought about the question. He unwrapped his arms, grabbing my hand gently, and looked out at the Capitol, before answering my question. "I'm not sure… maybe to give us hope?"

"Hope," I sighed, "I guess that makes sense, though President Glass seems like the kind of person who thought it would be fun to see a bunch of children fighting each other over food, prestige, and money. I don't think he was interested in giving us in the Districts hope."

Peeta leaned me back against his chest and was about to say something but was interrupted by the sound of the elevator telling us we were on our floor. We quickly pulled away and turned to head out of the glass lift. Haymitch was waiting for us outside the elevator doors, leaning against a large square potted plant.

"Where's Effie?" Haymitch asked us, glancing into the elevator after we both stepped out. He didn't seem all that surprised that she wasn't was us. In fact, he seemed like he had expected her not to accompany us for our trip up.

Peeta and I exchanged looks about Haymitch's behaviour before Peeta answered him calmly, "Some foreign guy called out to her while we were waiting for the elevator. She went with him, said she'd be up in a bit." Haymitch's sigh confirmed what Peeta and I had both suspected; Haymitch knew who Effie Trinket's mysterious suitor was.

"Well, who is he?" My voice sounded eager as curiosity swam though me like a river.

Haymitch pulled his hair out of his eyes; didn't help much, but then again I don't believe he ever meant for it to. It was more of a dramatic action he liked to do before talking sometimes. "His name is Jérémie Lafond," he told us with a slight french accent to the name. "He's the ambassador of Eastern Canada and he's currently Effie's suitor, as she likes to put it."

So he _was_ from Eastern Canada, not only that but a high ranking official of the country, I thought to myself. Eastern Canada and Northern Canada were our neighbors to the north. They used to be a large country by the name of Canada but it was split over a hundred years ago by the Great Canadian River. This huge body of water ran from the northern edge of two countries all the way down to the very northwestern edge of my district. They were relatively peaceful countries, though throughout their short history there had been disputes along their borders about trading agreements and other small things. We learned about them in the brief world history lessons in school.

"How come he's allowed in the Tribute Centre? Shouldn't he be in the President's Mansion?" I asked, remembering that President Snow liked to house world officials in his massive mansion. After all, he did have space.

Haymitch shook his head. "Not during the Hunger Games. All twelve officials from the larger countries stay on the bottom floor of the Tribute Center. Right by the Tribute Entry Hall, that place where you went after the chariot rides. I've never been there but Effie has. She says it's not much different to the rest of the apartments, the only difference is the size. After all kid, there are twelve people staying there."

I found the idea odd to listen to and even understand, but I guess it made sense to the Capitol. The phrase 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' definitely applies here.

"Alright you two, go shower and get changed. I personally don't mind the smell of sweat, but Effie does. And you don't want to see that woman angry. Trust me," he stated and swayed off towards his own room. He looked like he had been drinking more than usual today.

Peeta gently took my hand and walked me to my room leaning against the wall once we got there, "I don't want to go back to my room," he murmured looking at me with a soft smile.

I rolled my eyes and kissed his cheek. "Go and get changed, Peeta. I'm not going anywhere."

Peeta looked doubtful, but after releasing my hand with a deep sigh he slumped back to his room, looking like a kid who had been grounded. I let out my own sigh and stepped into my room to wash off and get changed.

* * *

I leaned my head against the back of my private sofa, staring at the ceiling. I had just finished my shower with no other thoughts in my head but getting clean and refreshed. Today had not been at all what I expected. I expected everything to go smoothly and for nothing bad to happen. Then wham! The accident with Rue played out in my head and I felt a chill go through me. I switched the temperature of my fireplace to be Soothing Heat; which basically meant above room temperature. I leaned back and closed my eyes, getting comfortable before I slowed the event down and replayed it through my mind. I could feel my body tense as adrenaline flooded through me, causing a short rush. I'd thought for sure that Rue was falling to her death.

The adrenaline rush pulled me back to the time when Prim had followed me into the woods four years ago and decided to try and pet a bear cub. The second I heard the roar of its mother and Prim's cry for help, the same rush flowed through me. I'd never run that fast in my life. It felt like I literally flew over the ground as I ran for Prim. Unfortunately, I had to gravely injure the mother bear and she didn't survive her injuries. Once the rush had subsided I was faced with rising a three-month-old grizzly bear, because Prim didn't want to leave it alone. Keeping a bear cub hidden from peacekeepers for seven months, while teaching it to hunt and survive in the wild was by far the hardest thing I've ever done.

I smirked at the reminder of Snug, the name Prim had given the bear cub. He had been a good bear, a faster learner and decent company on hunting trips; though it took me weeks to get him to stop scaring off the game. I was actually able to keep him hidden and safe for the entire time I had been caring for him. The last time I saw him was two months ago, since then he had gone off to roam his mother's territory. He was healthy and huge, feeding off of a fish carcass. I think he even recognized me. He didn't really show that he did, but he didn't attack or come after me when I came closer. I had even thought he was another bear, but the scar over his face, from when he got into a fight with a lynx over a dead deer, was still noticeable and I knew that it was Snug.

I guess I'll never see Snug again. I wonder if he'll be happy if he'll keep roaming his mother territory until he dies or it gets taken from him. As I thought of Snug fighting with another bear I heard Effie Trinket's bubbly voice calling me over the intercom, "Dinnertime Katniss!"

I groaned, getting up slowly to stretch out some of my sore muscles. Effie Trinket always had a way of interrupting my thoughts. I stretched out my muscles once more before heading out of my room. Effie Trinket was standing outside my door with Peeta beside her. "You're late for dinner." If it would have been anyone else but Effie Trinket I'm sure they would have had a distasteful look on their face. But Effie Trinket had a smile like she didn't just reprimand me.

I rolled my eyes and walked off to the dining platform without looking at her. Effie Trinket followed behind me with the loud clicking of her heels echoing through the hallway.

* * *

Dinner was short, and though Peeta and Haymitch had a conversation throughout the meal, everyone else spoke very little. When it was over, I stood and pushed my chair in. "I'm going to bed," I stated. I turned to leave, but Effie Trinket's voice stopped me.

"Wait Katniss dear." I rolled my eyes but waited until she stepped around the table and came to my side.

"Yes?"

"I have someone that wants to meet you. Can you spare a few moments of your time? They're very important and I think it would greatly benefit you in the Games," Effie Trinket clapped, a huge smile on her face. Part of me caught a glimpse of worry in her eyes shortly before it disappeared. I wondered if I'd imagined it.

"Who is it?"

"Do you remember that man I stopped to talk to while you and Peeta went on?"

"Yes, what about him?" I asked, yet I already knew the answer.

"He's the one that wants to see you. He's the-"

"Yea, I know. Haymitch already explained," I interrupted her.

Effie Trinket looked slightly upset, probably over the fact that Haymitch had beaten her for the chance to explain who Jérémie was. "Oh, well. Let's be going," she stated as her bubbly smile quickly returned.

Before we stepped into the elevator, Effie Trinket gave my outfit a look of scrutiny, "Katniss my dear, I must insist you wear something less-," she pursed her lips, looking down at my simple green shirt and black pants with obvious dislike, "plain. You are meeting with an important official after all."

I looked down at my clothes and sighed, knowing this was something I couldn't get out of but that didn't mean I couldn't try. "Must I?" I asked, my voice laced with annoyance.

Effie Trinket nodded her head once as she answered simply, "Yes, you must." She then pulled me back to my room, straight to the closet, despite the fact that I thought I looked perfectly fine.

* * *

"Yes, yes. That is perfect." Effie Trinket finally said after making me put on twelve outfits before this one. The outfit was completely uncomfortable. The black capris were simple enough, tight fitting around the waist and overly flared at the bottom. The only thing that made them _Capitolish_ was the vertical equal distanced rips that revealed blood red fabric underneath. I didn't mind them too much, but the top was painfully uncomfortable.

It was mainly blood red, with long black sleeves that pointed at the wrists. Effie Trinket had stuffed me into a corset to "give me a more attractive appearance" _._ I felt more like I was going to faint, though I was extremely afraid to. This was because of the two black pointed shoulders that jutted out from the top. I could poke someone's eye out with shoulders like these. But that wasn't the worst part, no. Around my neck was something Effie Trinket referred to as _a vampire collar_. I'd heard of vampires, ancient mythology creatures that fed on human blood. The fact that I was wearing a top with a collar named after them did not make me feel any better about the outfit.

Effie Trinket dabbed at her eyes, more a show of emotion then an actual one and proudly said, "Now you're ready to meet Jérémie." She quickly pulled me back to the elevator. I was so glad Haymitch and Peeta were too busy talking with Cinna on the patio to notice Effie Trinket rushing me to the lift in this ridiculous outfit.

The three inch black strapped heels were almost impossible to walk in; I didn't know how Effie Trinket could manage it all the time.

Most of the ride down Effie Trinket droned over the etiquette of Eastern Canada and how to speak properly to an official. I didn't realize how much stuff you could do to upset someone for a country so close to ours. It all seemed surreal that there were so many. Though I'm pretty sure my escort was over dramatising most of the things that might upset Jérémie. Soon I began to let my thoughts wander, not listening as we climbed out of the elevator, beginning our walk towards an area between the Tribute Entry Hall and where I assumed the ambassador rooms were. I didn't even notice Effie Trinket start to call to me.

"Katniss are you listening?" she called to me despite being so close.

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at her, "Huh?"

Effie Trinket gave me a very serious look, "This is an important person, Katniss. So I will not have you messing this meeting up, alright?"

"Yes Effie," I sighed. Effie Trinket had a way of over dramatizing things.

"We're almost there. Now let me have another look at you." She looked me over again. "I did do a magnificent job, didn't I?" It was more a praise to herself than a question to me. "Come along, let's go meet him. And remember, smiles, politeness, and I don't want you to say a word about growing up in your district. He doesn't need to know about your… background."

"You mean about that fact that I grew up in poverty and hunger?" I muttered under my breath. Unfortunately Effie Trinket heard me, though she looked proud. Probably because she didn't think I was meaning something else by what I had said.

"Exactly. Well here we are," She announced as we turned the corner into a beautiful garden of flowers I'd never seen, and some I didn't even know existed. Standing at the far end under a white gazebo was the very man we were here to meet.

I noticed that he had changed out of the clothes he had been wearing earlier. He was now wearing an even more casual shirt and dark jeans. I'd almost go as far as saying that he looked like someone from District Twelve, when they weren't working in the mines that is. It was an odd thing to see but it was comforting. It showed me that this man wasn't the kind of person who dressed up when he was by himself. Which was unlike the people of the capital. Effie Trinket had primped and preened like a peacock, even though she was only on the train with myself, Peeta and Haymitch.

He looked up at us and waved. "Effie, you have arrived later than you said you would!" he exclaimed, his voice was heavily accented.

"Well I had to help Katniss found suitable attire for this meeting," she explained as she kissed his cheek and looked at me. "Katniss I'd like to formally introduce you to Jérémie Lafond. Jérémie this is my protégé, Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire."

I watched Effie Trinket as she gleamed her large eyes at Jérémie. She seemed honestly pleased that I was meeting with this ambassador. So I guess I'd have to talk to him.

" _Bonjour_ , _Monsieur._ It is very nice to meet you." I was thankful that I had listened in to broken conversations in the woods. The hunters would speak in both English and French during their trips, which made it easier to learn a few choice words in the language.

He didn't seem surprised that I knew a little of his country's language. Instead he smiled, smirking at the sight of my ridiculous outfit, and nodded his head, " _Mademoiselle_ Everdeen, it is a pleasure to meet you. I saw your… what is the word?"

"Reaping dear?"

" _Oui_ , your reaping. I saw your reaping and I was very moved by what you did for your _petite sœur_ , your little sister. But that is not why I have asked _mon chéri_ to bring you down to meet me. I wish…" he paused and looked at Effie Trinket, "Effie _mon chère_ , would it be possible to speak to _Mademoiselle_ Everdeen in private?"

Effie Trinket looked stunned, and I have to admit a little nervous, but she nodded. "Oh, of course Jérémie. Will you escort her to the elevator once you have finished speaking to her?"

Jérémie nodded and kissed her cheek. " _Oui, au revoir_ Effie," he smiled, waiting calmly until she left and was out of earshot before speaking to me once again.

"Now that we are alone, I wish to ask if you would accept me as your sponsor for this Hunger Games?"

"Pardon?" I was stunned. An ambassador wanted to sponsor… _me_?

"I wish to sponsor you, _Mademoiselle_ Everdeen," he smiled as he continued, "to help you during your games so that that you may have a greater chance of surviving them." The news hadn't really sunk in until he repeated himself.

But then I realized the real reason he wanted to sponsor me; it was clear why. He wanted the attention of having a rising tribute from a lower district to sponsor and there was no way I was playing into his attention seeking hands.

"No," I said flatly. The look on his face was surprising, he wasn't angry like I not he might be and he didn't beg. He just looked at me, his brown eyes boring into my skin.

" _Mademoiselle_ Everdeen, I do not believe you really understand what I am asking of you."

That annoyed me. "Oh I understand perfectly. You want a girl from a measly district as your rising star for attention." I looked at him with daggers in my eyes. "Well you're not going to get it from me."

With that, I thought he would glare at me or storm off like any Capitol citizen might, but I had forgotten this man wasn't a citizen of the Capitol. Instead of doing what I expected, he suddenly bursted out with laugher. He really wasn't taking this seriously.

"Effie said you were a fiery one. Now I see why," he said, his expression becoming gentle, friendly even. " _Mademoiselle_ Everdeen, I believe you do not understand me at all. When I say I want to sponsor you I am not asking lightly. Sponsoring is taken very seriously among ambassadors. For what I know, only six tributes have been sponsored by ambassadors since the first time they were given permission to sponsor, during the first Quarter Quell."

I was a bit regretful about my rudeness towards Jérémie but that didn't mean I believed him. "And they've probably all been strong tributes from rich districts," I said my voice laced with spite, but then he shook his head.

" _Non_ , only two were from a rich district, the other four were from district three, eight and your own district, twelve. Though the last tribute was sponsored over 80 years ago." I looked stunned and almost opened my mouth to ask something but Jérémie seemed to already know my question, answering it before I could ask, "Ambassadors do not take sponsoring a tribute lightly. Every one of us has only ten years of ambassadorial status in Panem before it is revoked and we are assigned to a more long term assignment. During this short period of time an ambassador may choose to sponsor one or two tributes, if they are from the same district, during a single game. After that game we are no longer allowed to sponsor any other tribute."

I nodded, "I see but I still don't understand why it's rare. I get you can only sponsor during one game but wouldn't that just make it easier?"

Jérémie shook his head once again, "Again, _non_. When we sponsor a tribute, we stand by that tribute for the rest of our lives. Even if they die our tie to them does not. We invest a great deal of time, energy, and money into that tribute. If they become a victor, we will give them a yearly allowance along with the allowance they receive from their victory. We also help with travelling through your country, attend events or celebrations they are the guest of honour for, we also become a small sponsor to the tributes they mentor, though it is different than how we sponsored them. If they die in the arena or by some other cause, we will care for their families and ensure they live in comfort. Our tie is very strong and in not taken lightly, that is why most ambassadors never choose to sponsor a tribute. They find it very difficult to invest that much into one person that may die in the first few minutes of the games."

Now I understood, Jérémie wasn't using me for attention but he was stating that he wanted to help me and, in a way, my family. He was a kind and caring person who wanted to help someone he thought was worthy enough. I stood tall and proud, despite my annoying appearance. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions before you could explain yourself. If you don't mind dealing with someone stubborn like me until you die then, I would be honoured to accept you as my sponsor." Suddenly a thought occurred to me. "But I have one condition."

He tilted his head and listened, waiting for what I had to say. "You sponsor Peeta as well."

* * *

 _POV Peeta_

About a half hour ago I had been chatting with Haymitch and Cinna, mostly about what was going to happen in the two days before the interviews.

"It's usually around noon on the third day that you start the individual sessions." Haymitch was explaining calmly, "That's when you really want to show your skills to the Gamemakers. Only problem is, by the time they get to District Twelve, they're usually bored out of their minds and won't pay attention to you. You'll be the last ones, so you gotta knock them off their feet to get a high score from them. Don't do it literally though, that could cost you points."

I looked surprised, "Last ones? But shouldn't that be District Thirteen?"

"District Thirteen always goes third." Haymitch said in a nonchalant way.

I looked confused by that, "That seems... odd."

"The Capitol's always been a place that hates change." Cinna explained calmly, "The first few years after District Thirteen had first entered the Games, all the tributes they had were the children of overseers. So the Capitol give them special privileges for the individual sessions and the interviews. They let them go ahead of all the Districts but One and Two. The overseers of the district thought it would give them an advantage in the arena, but it didn't. When the first child of a factory worker was reaped they didn't seem to want to change the order. The citizens and the gamemakers had gotten use to it so they decided they wouldn't change it. In a way, it's similar to Thirteen not getting their own floor. The Capitol just doesn't like change."

I nodded slowly, a few thoughts coming to my mind. The first thing that came to mind was random. It was the fact that Cinna never said we or us when he talked about the Capitol. It was odd. I had heard Effie, Jenkin, Portia and even my prep team using those particular pronouns when they talked about the Capitol but Cinna never did. I shook my head, keeping the thought to myself and quickly asked, "When do they announce the scores?"

"Usually at 8, when everyone's finished eating dinner," Haymitch stated indifferently; he didn't seem to think that the time really mattered. He was wrong though.

"What time do our prep teams come to get us ready for the interviews?" I asked, a plan wheeling into motion. It was important to know when the scores were announced and when we'd begin getting ready for the interviews.

Cinna was the one to respond this time. "Probably at dawn, it takes quite a while for them to get you ready for the interviews. They'll have to get you ready in less than 15 hours, not including the three hours you get for breakfast, lunch and prep breaks. Your whole day will be booked."

And that sealed my plan. "If that's the case then I need your help."

They both looked a bit confused but intrigued. "What do you need from us, kid?"

I turned my gaze towards Haymitch. "I want to do something for Katniss."

And that got their attention. I spent the next bit of time going over the plan step by step until Effie, Katniss, and surprisingly Jérémie stepped off the elevator. Effie looked slightly put out for some reason though.

"I was not saying the outfit did not look _fantastique_ only that it did not suit the girl, Effie. The girl on fire must look the part, not be decorated in clothes that a creature of fiction would wear."

I had no idea what the two of them were talking about, I did however notice that Katniss had changed. And she looked beautiful. Her hair was, as always, in the simple braid her mom had taught her how to do when she was ten. No makeup touched her face, making her look like herself. Her top was made from a clinging fabric that covered her chest but left her arms bare. It was a bright flame red that seemed to glow in the dim light of the fireplace. She covered her olive toned legs with black dress pants that were covered with a pair of combat boots. I smirked, she wasn't one for the traditional that was for sure.

"Is something wrong Peeta?" she asked me and my eyes went up to look into hers.

I shook my head quickly, "No… no… You look… Wow…" I was literally at a lost for words.

She blushed, smirking slightly. I saw Jérémie through the corner of my eye, he was watching us carefully, probably gauging our expressions. "You have stunned _Monsieur_ Mellark with your beauty _Mademoiselle_ Everdeen."

Katniss sighed and shook her head, "Please stop Jérémie. If you're going to sponsor both of us, you'll need to start calling us by our first names, and no adding _Monsieur_ or _Mademoiselle_."

"Wait what? He wants to…" I turned to the Eastern Canadian. "You want to sponsor me and Katniss? Are you serious?"

Jérémie suddenly chuckled, "You know, Monsi- Peeta," he stopped and corrected himself, "Katniss said the exact same thing to me."

"Did she also say she accepts your offer?" I asked, knowing that this was a big opportunity.

"Yes… but not at first." Jérémie said his smile broad, catching my use of words, "I will see you at dinner tomorrow than. Effie has invited me. _Bonne nuit_." He walked back to the elevator leaving Katniss and Effie alone with us to explain what had happened.


End file.
